DS(Q)[EEIRT  Eo  LEE. 

PRESIDENT   OF   WASHINGTON    COLLEGE 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


TO 

THE     BELOVED     MEMORY 
OF 

MRS.    MARY    OUSTIS    LEE, 

BY    «  HOSE   KIND   ENCOURAGEMENT  THIS   WORK   WAS   UNDERTAKEN,    AND    WHOSK 
VALUABLE  AID   HAS   ENRICHED   ITS   PAGES, 

THIS   BOOK 

IS   AFFECTIONATELY   DEDICATED 
BT 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PEEFAOE. 


THE  author  does  not  propose  to  add  another  "  Life  of 
Lee  "  to  the  several  that  have  been  given  to  the  public. 

Mine  is  a  humbler  but  scarcely  less  important  work. 

It  was  my  proud  privilege  to  have  known  General  Lee 
intimately.  I  saw  him  on  that  day  in  April,  1861,  on  which 
he  came  to  offer  his  stainless  sword  to  the  land  that  gave 
him  birth.  I  followed  his  standard  from  Harper's  Ferry,  in 
1861,  to  Appomattox  Court-house,  in  1865,  coming  into 
somewhat  frequent  contact  with  him,  rejoicing  with  him  at 
his  long  series  of  brilliant  victories,  and  weeping  with  him 
when  "compelled  to  yield  to  overwhelming  numbers  and 
resources." 

It  was  my  still  higher  privilege  to  have  been  intimately 
associated  with  him  during  the  last  five  years  of  his  career, 
to  have  been  one  of  the  regular  chaplains  of  his  college,  to 
have  visited  him  frequently  at  his  office  and  in  his  home, 
and  to  have  had  him  sometimes  under  my  own  humble  roof ; 
to  have  mingled  with  him  in  the  freest  social  intercourse, 
and  to  have  been  the  daily  witness  of  those  beautiful  traits 
of  character  which  made  him  seem  even  grander  in  peace 
than  in  war. 

I  was  one  of  that  band  of  loving  hearts  whose  sad  privi- 


vl  PREFACE. 

lege  it  was  to  bear  him  to  the  tomb,  when  two  continents 
mourned  his  death.  And  I  have  enjoyed  some  peculiar 
facilities  for  knowing  the  events  of  his  life,  and  studying  his 
private  character. 

It  has  been  for  me,  therefore,  a  "labor  of  love,"  and 
one  which,  I  trust,  will  not  seem  presumptuous  or  prove 
wholly  unacceptable  to  the  public,  to  recall  a  few  personal 
reminiscences,  cull  a  few  anecdotes,  and  give  a  few  of  his 
private  letters,  which  may  present  a  picture  of  EGBERT  E. 
LEE,  THE  MAN,  as  he  lived  and  moved,  and  was  loved, 
among  us. 

A  large  part  of  this  book  was  originally  prepared  for  the 
"  Lee  memorial  volume,"  which  the  Faculty  of  Washington 
and  Lee  University  designed  publishing,  and  which  I  had 
the  honor  of  assisting  in  preparing ;  and  Mrs.  Lee  did  me 
the  kindness  to  read  carefully,  and  very  warmly  appro ve,- 
my  manuscript. 

"When  the  publication  of  that  volume  was  abandoned, 
and  I  proposed,  with  the  consent  of  the  Faculty,  to  use  the 
material  in  a  book  of  my  own,  Mrs.  Lee  wrote  me  a  kind 
letter  in  which  she  said :  "...  Whatever  the  Faculty  de 
cide  upon  will,  I  know,  meet  with  my  approbation,  and  to 
no  one  would  I  more  confidently  trust  the  completion  of  the 
work,  in  the  way  you  propose,  than  to  yourself."  Mrs.  Lee 
was  very  much  interested  in  the  proposed  publication,  and  I 
feel  that,  in  giving  this  volume  to  the  public,  I  am  but  car 
rying  out  her  earnest  wishes. 

I  was  especially  indebted  to  Mrs.  Lee,  and  have  been 
placed  under  high  obligations  to  General  G.  W.  Custis  Lee, 
and  General  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  for  the  letters  which  form  so 
interesting  and  valuable  a  part  of  this  volume.  My  thanks 


PREFACE.  yij 

are  also  due  to  the  Faculty  of  Washington  and  Lee  Uni 
versity,  not  only  for  kind  encouragement,  but  for  invaluable 
assistance  in  the  preparation  of  the  work. 

Every  thing  of  doubtful  authenticity  has  been  excluded 
irom  these  pages,  and  the  reader  will,  therefore,  miss  a  num 
ber  of  popular  anecdotes  which  he  would  expect  to  find. 

This  first  attempt  at  authorship  is  sent  forth  with  a  sin 
cere  desire  that  it  may  prove  acceptable  to  the  countless 
admirers  of  the  great  Confederate  chieftain,  that  it  may 
serve  to  give  to  all  a  higher  appreciation  of  his  noble  char 
acter,  and  that  it  may  prove  a  blessing  to  the  young  men 
of  the  country  (more  especially  to  those  who  "wore  the 
gray  "),  by  inducing  them  to  study,  in  order  that  they  may 
imitate,  his  shining  virtues. 

.      J.  W.  J. 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  August  1,  1874. 


NOTE. 


AT  the  death  of  General  Lee  a  memorial  volume  was 
announced,  and  this  Committee  was  appointed  to  superin 
tend  the  publication.  Circumstances,  for  which  neither  the 
Committee  nor  the  publishers  were,  responsible,  delayed  and 
finally  prevented  the  publication  of  that  work.  In  the  mean 
time,  Eev.  John  William  Jones  had  prepared  this  book  to 
aid  in  the  completion  of  Valentine's  beautiful  sepulchral 
monument  to  General  Lee.  Mr.  Jones  was  a  faithful  chap 
lain  in  the  army  of  General  Lee,  and,  subsequently,  while 
minister  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Lexington,  enjoyed  in  an 
unusual  degree  his  favor  and  regard.  During  this  period, 
and  while  acting  at  times  as  chaplain  of  "Washington  Col 
lege,  Mr.  Jones  had  special  opportunities  to  observe  the 
character  of  General  Lee,  for  whom  he  entertained  an  en 
thusiastic  devotion.  The  Committee,  knowing  the  peculiar 
qualifications  which  the  author  brings  to  this  work,  hav? 
afforded  him  the  fullest  access  to  the  materials  in  their  pos 
session,  and  are  happy  now  to  commend  to  the  public  the 
completed  volume  as  a  valuable  contribution  toward  a  biog 
raphy  of  Eobert  E.  Lee. 

Signed:  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  FACULTY 

OF  WASHINGTON  AND  LEE  UNIVERSITY. 


0  O  N  T  E  IT  T  S. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FAOX 

THE  SOLDIER 1 

Tribute  of  General  J.  A.  Early — Extracts  from  addresses  by  Generals 
John  B.  Gordon  and  Wade  Hampton,  and  Colonel  C.  S.  Venable — 
Extracts  from  Northern  critics — Opinions  of  the  English  press — 
Extracts  from  Colonel  Chesney,  Colonel  Lawler,  Professor  George 
Long,  and  Professor  Worsley. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  COLLEGE  PRESIDENT 80 

Sketch  by  Rev.  Dr.  Kirkpatrick,  Professor  of  Moral  Science  in  Wash 
ington  and  Lee  University — Paper  of  Professor  Edward  S.  Joynes, 
of  Washington  and  Lee  University — Incidents. 

CHAPTER    III. 

DOTY,  THE  KEY-NOTE  OF  HIS  LIFE 133 

Anecdotes  given  by  General  Magruder,  and  ex-President  Davis — His 
leaving  the  United  States  Army — Extracts  from  his  private  letters 
illustrating  his  devotion  to  the  Union — His  refusal  of  the  supreme 
command  of  the  United  States  Army — Letters  to  General  Scott  and 
his  sister — Reception  in  Richmond — Letters  to  Hon.  Reverdy  John 
son  containing  his  own  account  of  the  circumstances  of  his  resigna 
tion — His  firmness  after  entering  the  Southern  Army — Conversation 
with  Bishop  Wilmer — Incidents  of  the  surrender  given  by  Colonel 
C.  S.  Venable — Conversation  with  General  Wade  Hampton^  and 
with  the  author — Incidents  given  by  General  Gordon  —  Extracts 
from  papers  found  in  his  army  satchel — Letter  to  General  Pendle- 
ton — Incident  related  bv  lion.  H.  W.  Hilliard. 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

PAG  I 

MODEST  HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND  GENTLENESS  ....  147 
Simplicity  of  his  dress — Lack  of  display  at  his  headquarters — Inci 
dents  illustrating  his  modesty — Colonel  Charles  Marshall's  incidents 
of  Chancellorsville  and  Gettysburg — Incidents  illustrating  the  warm 
friendship  between  Lee  and  Jackson — Letters — His  conduct  toward 
his  other  officers  —  The  account  of  Lee  at  Gettysburg  given  by 
Colonel  Freemantle,  of  the  English  Army — Orders  to  his  troops 
issued  at  Hagerstown  on  his  retreat  from  Gettysburg — Incidents — 
Extracts  from  paoers  found  in  his  army  satchel — Incidents  illus 
trating  his  tenderness  for  birds  and  animals  —  Letters  to  parties 
desiring  to  write  his  biography. 

CHAPTER    V. 

His  SPIRIT  OF  SELF-DENIAL  FOR  THE  GOOD  OF  OTHERS  .  .  .167 
Incident  related  by  Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens — About  to  go  into  the  ranks 
as  a  private  soldier — Ex-President  Davis's  incident — Self-denial  of 
his  living — Never  used  tobacco  or  intoxicating  liquors — Incidents — 
Letter  to  a  College  Temperance  Society — Stonewall  Jackson's  tem 
perance  principles  —  Incident  related  by  General  Ewell  —  General 
Lee's  "  treat " — An  English  officer's  account  of  his  visit  to  General 
Lee's  headquarters — Incidents  illustrating  his  deep  interest  in  his 
men — Letter  to  the  City  Council  of  Richmond  declining  the  gift  of  a 
residence — Refusal  of  gifts  at  the  close  of  the  war — Specimens  of  his 
letters  declining  pecuniary  assistance — His  refusal  to  accept  a  large 
salary,  or  any  gratuity  from  the  College — His  letters  on  the  subject 
—  His  object  in  writing  a  history  of  his  campaigns  to  vindicate 
others  rather  than  himself— Circular  Letter — His  want  of  nepotism  , 
— Incidents  illustrating  his  refusal  to  promote  his  sons — Dr.  Moore's 
incident  of  his  refusal  to  apply  for  a  special  exchange  for  his  son 
when  in  prison. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

[Iis  WANT  OF  BITTERNESS  TOWARD  THE  NORTH,  BUT  DEVOTION  TO 
THE  INTERESTS  OF  THE  SOUTH.        .        .        .        ,..».'.  186 

Incidents — His  General  Orders  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  conduct  of 
his  troops — Incidents — Treatment  of  prisoners — His  testimony  be 
fore  the  Congressional  Reconstruction  Committee — Private  letter  to 
Dr.  Carter,  of  Philadelphia — The  real  facts  in  reference  to  the  treat 
ment  of  prisoners — Incidents  illustrating  his  want  of  bitterness — 
Splendid  conduct  of  Lee's  veterans  since  the  close  of  the  war,  and 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

FAGK 

his  influence  in  bringing  it  about — Letters  to  General  Grant — His 
application  to  President  Johnson  for  "  amnesty "  —  Letters  to 
Colonel  R.  L.  Maury,  ex-Governor  John  Letcher,  Hon.  A.  M.  Keiley, 
Count  Joannes,  Commodore  Tatnall,  Commodore  Maury,  General 
Beauregard,  General  Wilcox,  Chauncey  Burr,  Esq.,  Hon.  Reverdy 
Johnson,  Mrs.  Jefferson  Davis,  Rev.  G.  W.  Leyburn,  General  Early, 
Captain  James  May,  Judge  Robert  Ould,  General  D.  H.  Maury, 
General  James  Longstreet,  Hon.  J.  S.  Black,  Hon.  Thomas  Law 
rence  Jones,  Colonel  Blanton  Duncan,  Hon.  James  M.  Mason,  and 
others  —  His  refusal  to  attend  meetings  having  any  reference  to 
the  war. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

His  SOCIAL  CHARACTER 235 

Simplicity  of  his  dress — "  Given  to  hospitality  " — Uniform  courtesy — 
Retentive  memory  of  names  and  faces — Incidents — Letters  to  Fed 
eral  officers — Reply  to  spirit-rappers — Incidents  illustrating  his  quiet 
humor — A  number  of  his  private  letters. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

His  FIRMNESS  IN  CARRYING  OUT  HIS  PURPOSES  ....  283 
Incidents — His  devotion  to  the  Southern  cause,  and  firm  adherence  to 
its  fortunes — The  true  story  of  Appomattox  Court-House — General 
Lee's  own  account — Popular  errors  refuted — The  correspondence — 
Lee's  appearance — His  farewell  address — Touching  scene — Two  of 
General  Lee's  letters  to  President  Davis. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

His  LOVE  FOR  HIS  SOLDIERS,  AND  THEIR  ENTHUSIASTIC  DEVOTION 
TO  HIM  .  m  »  .  .  .  .  .  •  •  •  •  315 
Incidents — "General  Lee  to  the  rear" — A  soldier's  short  argument 
against  atheism — Incidents  and  letters — The  marked  courtesy  and 
respect  with  which  he  treated  his  old  soldiers — Grief  of  the  soldiers 
at  his  death — Resolutions  by  soldiers'  meeting  hi  Lexington — Ad 
dresses  in  Baltimore  by  General  Trimble,  Colonel  Marshall,  and  Rev. 
T.  U.  Dudley — Great  soldiers'  meeting  in  Richmond,  and  addresses 
by  General  J.  A.  Early,  ex-President  Davis,  General  John  S.  Pres 
ton,  General  John  B.  Gordon,  Colonel  Charles  Marshall,  General 
Henry  A.  Wise,  Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston,  and  Colonel 
Robert  E.  Withers. 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    X. 

PAG* 

His  DOMESTIC  LIFE          .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  357 

His  own  sketch  of  the  Lee  family — His  youth  and  early  manhood — 
Stratford — Life  in  Alexandria — Letter  to  his  old  teacher — At  West 
Point — His  marriage — Arlington — Letters  to  his  family — Incidents 
— Leaving  Arlington — Life  during  the  war — Letters  from  camp  to 
his  family — His  home  in  Lexington — Letters. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
His  LOVE  FOE  CHILDREN      . 409 

A  number  of  pleasing  incidents  illustrating  this. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

His  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER,  ILLUSTRATED    BY  INCIDENTS,  LETTERS, 

AND  PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 415 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

SKETCH  OF  HIS  SICKNESS,  DEATH,  AND  FUNERAL  OBSEQUIES,  BY 
COLONEL  WILLIAM  PRESTON  JOHNSTON  —  AUTHOR'S  CONCLU 
SION  .  .  .  .  • '  .  446 

APPENDIX. 

SELECTIONS  FROM  EULOGIES  ON  GENERAL  LEE  .        .        .  461 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  J.  P.  HOLCOMBE  .  485 


LIST    OF    ENGRAVINGS. 


I.— LEE   AS   THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT      .         .         .        Frontispiece. 
From  a  photograph  by  Miley,  taken  a  few  months  before  his 
death. 

TO   FACB  PAGS 

II.— LEE  AS  A  YOUNG  OFFICER    .        .        >.        .        .        .        .134 
III.— STONEWALL  JACKSON 155 

IV.— LEE   AS  THE   CONFEDERATE   GENERAL      .        .        .        .283 
From  a  photograph  by  Davies,  which  was  selected  by  Mrs. 
Lee  herself  for  the  "  Memorial,"  and  is  pronounced,  by  all 
who  knew  him,  the  war-picture  of  Lee. 

V.— MRS.   LEE  AT  ARLINGTON 356 

From  a  picture  taken  just  after  she  left  there,  in  1861,  and 
one  that  she  herself  selected  for  the  "  Memorial "  volume. 

VI.— MRS.   LEE  AT  LEXINGTON    .        .        .        .        .        .        .446 

From  a  fine  photograph  taken  by  Miley,  in  1873,  two  months 
before  her  death. 


I.— FREDERICKSBURG 54 

II.— WASHINGTON  COLLEGE 80 

From  a  photograph  by  Miley. 

m.— LEE  CHAPEL 109 

From  a  photograph  by  Miley. 


xvi  LIST   OF  ENGRAVING. 

TO   FACE   PAGK 

IV.— PRESIDENT'S  HOUSE  AT  LEXINGTON          .        .        .        -128 
From  a  photograph  by  Miley. 

V.— CHANCELLORSVILLE 149 

VI— LEE  AT  GETTYSBURG 161 

VII.— LEE  AND  JACKSON  AT   COLD  HARBOR     .        .        .        .171 
VIII.— "LEE  TO   THE   REAR"     .....  .     317 

IX.— " STRATFORD   HOUSE" .     360 

The  birthplace  of  General  Lee. 

X.— ARLINGTON 366 

XL— LEE  AT  THE  SOLDIERS'   PRAYER-MEETING      .        .        .417 

XII.— GENERAL  LEE'S   OFFICE   (JUST   AS  HE   LEFT   IT)    .        .    452 

XIII.— VALENTINE'S   SARCOPHAGUS  .     460 


REMINISCENCES  OF  GEN,  ROBERT  E,  LEE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE     SOLDIER. 

GENERAL  LEE  was  in  the  highest,  truest  sense  of  the  term, 
A  SOLDIER;  and,  while  a  detailed  narrative  of  his  military 
achievements  is  not  proposed,  our  portraiture  would  be  in 
complete  without  a  chapter  on  his  character  and  career  in  his 
chosen  profession. 

"With  ample  materials  at  hand,  I  prefer  that  the  picture 
should  be  drawn  by  abler  pens  than  my  own,  and  shall, 
therefore,  freely  cull  from  what  has  been  said  by  some  of  the 
ablest  military  critics  of  this  and  other  countries. 

And  I  am  fortunate  in  being  able  to  present  the  estimate 
of  Lee's  generalship  given  by  Lieutenant-General  J.  A. 
Early,  in  his  address  before  Washington  and  Lee  University, 
January  19,  1872,  on  the  occasion  of  the  second  anniversary 
celebration  of  General  Lee's  birthday. 

Omitting  only  a  few  of  the  opening  and  concluding  para 
graphs,  I  give  in  full  this  splendid  tribute  of  an  able  soldier 
to  the  chieftain  whom  he  followed  so  faithfully  during  the 
war,  and  whose  memory  and  fame  it  seems  his  proudest  am 
bition  to  perpetuate : 

"  The  commencement  of  hostilities  in  Charleston  harbor, 
the  proclamation  of  Lincoln,  calling  for  troops  to  make  an 
1 


2  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

unconstitutional  war  on  the  seceded  States,  and  the  conse 
quent  secession  of  Virginia,  found  General  Lee  a  colonel  in 
the  United  States  Army,  with  a  character  and  reputation 
which  would  have  insured  him  the  highest  military  honors 
within  the  gift  of  the  United  States  Government.  In  fact, 
it  has  been  said  that. the  command  of  the  army  intended  for 
the  invasion  of  the  South  was  tendered  him.  However,  re 
jecting  all  overtures  made  to  him,  as  soon  as  he  learned  the 
action  of  his  native  State,  in  a  dignified  manner,  and  without 
parade  or  show,  he  tendered  his  resignation,  with  the  deter 
mination  to  share  the  fate  of  his  State,  his  friends,  and  kin 
dred.  The  then  Governor  at  once,  with  the  unanimous  con 
sent  of  the  Convention  of  Yirginia,  tendered  him  the  com 
mand  of  all  the  forces  of  the  State.  This  he  accepted,  and 
promptly  repaired  to  Richmond,  to  enter  upon  the  discharge 
of  his  duties,  knowing  that  this  act  must  be  attended  with  a 
very  heavy  pecuniary  loss  to  himself  on  account  of  the  local 
ity  of  his  estates.  Those  who  witnessed  his  appearance 
before  the  convention,  saw  his  manly  bearing,  and  heard  the 
few  grave,  dignified,  and  impressive  words  with  which  he 
consecrated  himself  and  his  sword  to  the  cause  of  his  native 
State,  can  never  forget  that  scene.  All  felt  at  once  that  we 
had  a  leader  worthy  of  the  State  and  the  cause. 

"  As  a  member  of  the  military  committee  of  the  conven 
tion,  and  afterward  as  a  subordinate  under  him,  I  was  in  a 
3ondition  to  witness  and  know  the  active  energy  and  utter 
abnegation  of  all  personal  considerations  with  which  he  de 
voted  himself  to  the  work  of  organizing  and  equipping  the 
Virginia  troops  for  the  field.  While  he  bore  no  active  part 
in  the  first  military  operations  of  the  war,  yet  I  can  safely 
say  that,  but  for  the  capacity  and  energy  displayed  by  Gen 
eral  Lee  in  organizing  and  equipping  troops  to  be  sent  to  the 
front,  our  army  would  not  have  been  in  a  condition  to  gain 
the  first  victory  at  Manassas.  I  do  not,  however,  intend,  by 
this  statement,  to  detract  from  the  merit  of  others.  The 
Confederate  Government,  then  recently  removed  to  Rich- 


THE  SOLDIER.  3 

mond,  did  well  its  part  in  bringing  troops  from  the  South  ; 
and  I  take  pleasure  in  bearing  testimony  to  the  fidelity  and 
ability  with  which  the  then  Governor  of  Virginia  cooperated 
with  General  Lee  in  his  efforts  to  furnish  men  as  well  as  the 
munitions  of  war. 

"  His  first  appearance  in  the  field,  as  a  commander,  was 
in  Western  Virginia,  after  the  reverses  in  that  quarter.  The 
expectations  formed  in  regard  to  his  operations  there  were 
not  realized,  and,  though  he  met  with  no  disaster  or  defeat 
to  his  troops,  the  campaign  was  regarded  as  a  failure.  The 
public  never  thought  of  inquiring  into  the  causes  of  that 
failure,  and  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  an  impression  pre 
vailed  among  those  who  did  not  know  him  well,  that  Gen 
eral  Lee  was  not  suited  to  be  a  commander  in  an  active  cam-  • 
paign.  There  were  some  editors  who,  while  safely  intrenched 
behind  the  impregnable  columns  of  their  newspapers,  proved 
themselves  to  be  as  fierce  in  war  as  they  had  been  wise  in 
peace,  and  no  bad  representatives  of  the  snarling  Thersites, 
and  these  hurled  their  criticisms  and  taunts,  with  no  sparing 
hand,  at  the  head  of  the  unsuccessful  commander.  It  would 
be  profitless,  now,  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  failures 
in  Western  Yirginia.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  they  were 
not  attributable  to  the  want  of  capacity  or  energy  in  the 
commanding  general. 

"  He  was,  subsequently,  sent  to  the  Southern  seaboard,  for 
the  purpose  of  supervising  the  measures  for  its  defense,  and 
he  proved  himself  a  most  accomplished  engineer,  and  ren 
dered  most  valuable  services  in  connection  with  the  seaboard 
defenses  in  that  quarter. 

"  In  March,  1862,  he  was  called  to  Richmond,  and  charged 
with  the  conduct  of  military  operations  in  the  armies  of  the 
Confederacy,  under  the  direction  of  the  President.  Just  be 
fore  that  time,  the  evacuation  of  Manassas  took  place ;  and, 
subsequently,  the  transfer  of  the  bulk  of  the  opposing  armies 
in  Yirginia  to  the  Peninsula,  the  evacuation  of  Yorktown 
and  the  line  of  Warwick  River,  the  battle  of  Williamsburg, 


t  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

and  the  transfer  of  the  seat  of  war  to  the  Chickahominy,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Richmond,  occurred. 

"  On  the  31st  of  May  and  1st  of  June,  the  battle  of  Seven 
Pines  was  fought,  and  General  Johnston  was  so  severely 
wounded  as  to  be  disabled  for  duty  in  the  field  for  some 
time.  Fortunately,  the  eminent  and  patriotic  statesman  who 
was  at  the  head  of  the  Government  well  knew  the  merits  of 
General  Lee,  and  at  once  assigned  him  to  the  vacant  com 
mand  ;  and  then,  in  fact,  began  that  career  to  which  I  invite 
your  attention. 

"  When  General  Lee  assumed  command  of  the  army,  which 
before  that  time  had  borne  the  name  of  the  { Army  of  the 
Potomac,'  but  was  soon  rechristened  by  the  name  of  the 
'  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,'  he  found  the  Confederate 
capital  beleaguered  by  an  army  of  over  one  hundred  thousand 
men,  with  a  very  large  train  of  field  and  siege  guns,  while 
his  own  force  was  very  little  more  than  half  that  of  the 
enemy.  Nevertheless,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  relieving  the 
capital  of  the  threatening  presence  of  the  besieging  army,  by 
one  of  those  bold  strategic  movements  of  which  only  great 
minds  are  capable.  General  Jackson,  by  his  rapid  move 
ments  and  brilliant  operations  in  the  Valley,  had  prevented 
the  march  of  a  column  of  about  forty  thousand  men,  under 
McDowell,  from  Fredericksburg  on  Hichmond,  to  unite  with 
the  besieging  army ;  and  a  part  of  McDowell's  force,  and 
Fremont's  army  from  Northwestern  Virginia,  had  been  sent 
to  the  Valley,  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  Jackson.  It  was 
very  apparent  that  Jackson's  force,  then  consisting  of  his  own 
command  proper,  Johnson's  command  from  Alleghany  Moun 
tain,  and  Swell's  division,  could  not  long  withstand  the 
heavy  forces  concentrating  against  it ;  and  that,  when  it  was 
overwhelmed,  the  enemy's  troops  operating  in  the  Valley  and 
covering  Washington  would  be  at  liberty  to  move  on  Rich 
mond  ;  while  the  detachment,  from  the  army  defending  that 
city,  of  a  force  large  enough  to  enable  Jackson  to  contend 
successfully,  in  a  protracted  ^campaign,  with  the  forces  a  ecu 


THE  SOLDIER.  5 

niulating  against  hiir,,  would  probably  insure  the  fall  of  the 
Confederate  capital.  Preparations  were,  therefore,  made  to 
attack  the  besieging  army,  with  the  forces  covering  Richmond 
and  in  the  Yalley,  by  a  combined  movement.  Some  reen- 
forcements  were  brought  from  the  South,  and  three  brigades 
were  sent  to  the  Valley,  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  the 
enemy,  and  facilitating  the  withdrawal  of  General  Jackson. 
Fortunately,  that  able  and  energetic  commander  had  been 
enabled  to  prevent  the  junction  of  Fremont's  army  with  the 
troops  sent  from  McDowell's  command,  and,  taking  advan 
tage  of  their  separation  and  the  swollen  condition  of  the 
water-courses,  had  defeated  both  forces  in  succession,  and  so 
bewildered  their  commanders  by  the  rapidity  of  his  move 
ments,  that  they  retreated  down  the  Yalley,  under  the  appre 
hension  that  Washington  was  in  danger.  Leaving  all  of  his 
cavalry  but  one  regiment  to  watch  the  enemy  and  mask  his 
own  movement,  General  Jackson,  on  the  17th  of  June,  com 
menced  his  march  toward  the  enemy's  lines  near  Richmond, 
in  compliance  with  the  plan  and  orders  of  General  Lee ; 
and  on  the  26th  of  June,  less  than  four  weeks  after  General 
Lee  had  been  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  army,  his  at 
tacking  columns  swung  around  McClellan's  right  flank,  and 
fell  like  an  avalanche  on  the  besieging  army.  Next  day, 
Jackson  was  up,  and  then  ensued  that  succession  of  brilliant 
engagements  which  so  much  accelerated  McClellan's  famous 
t  change  of  base,'  and  sent  his  shattered  army  to  Harrison's 
Landing,  under  cover  of  the  gunboats  on  the  James. 

"  To  give  you  some  idea  of  the  boldness  and  daring  of 
this  movement,  and  the  impression  it  made  on  the  enemy,  I 
will  call  your  attention  to  some  facts  and  figures. 

"In  his  report,  dated  in  August,  1863,  and  printed  in 
1861,  McClellan  gives  the  strength  of  the  troops  under  his 
command  at  Washington,  on  the  Potomac,  and  within  reach 
on  the  1st  of  March,  1862,  as— 

"  '  Present  for  duty,  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  thou 
sand  one  hundred  and  forty-two/ 


6  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  A  portion  of  this  force  had  been  left  to  operate  in  the 
Yalley,  another  to  cover  Washington ;  and  he  puts  the 
strength  of  the  '  Army  of  the  Potomac,'  which  designation 
his  army  bore,  on  the  20th  day  of  June,  1862,  just  six  days 
before  the  battles  began,  at — 

"  'Present  for  duty,  one  hundred  and  five  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-five.' 

"  He  further  says  that  he  had  sixty  batteries  with  his 
army,  aggregating  three  hundred  and  forty  field-pieces.  Be 
sides  these  he  had  a  large  train  of  siege-guns. 

"  General  Lee's  whole  force,  of  all  arms,  including  the 
troops  of  Magruder,  Huger,  Holmes,  and  Jackson,  when  the 
latter  arrived,  did  not  reach  eighty  thousand  effective  men, 
and  of  these,  Holmes's  command,  over  six  thousand  strong, 
did  not  actively  engage  in  any  of  the  battles.  There  were 
thirty-nine  brigades  of  infantry  in  all  engaged  on  our  side  in 
the  battles  around  Richmond,  inclusive  of  Holmes's  com 
mand.  The  strength  of  twenty-three  of  them  is  given  in 
the  official  reports,  and  was  forty-seven  thousand  and  thirty- 
four,  including  the  batteries  attached  to  a  number  of  them. 
In  these  were  embraced  the  very  largest  brigades  in  the 
army,  as,  for  instance,  Lawton's.  The  sixteen  brigades,  whose 
strength  is  not  given,  were  four  of  A.  P.  Hill's,  two  of  Long- 
street's,  two  of  Huger's,  and  eight  of  Jackson's.  Taking 
the  average  of  those  whose  strength  is  given  for  the  eight 
brigades  of  A.  P.  Hill,  Longstreet,  and  Huger,  and  an  aver 
age  of  fifteen  hundred  for  Jackson's  eight  brigades — which 
would  be  a  very  liberal  estimate  for  the  latter,  considering 
the  heavy  fighting  and  long  and  rapid  marches  they  had  gone 
through — and  it  will  give  about  seventy-five  thousand  men, 
including  a  number  of  batteries  attached  to  the  brigades. 
The  cavalry  with  the  army  was  less  than  two  brigades,  and 
that,  with  the  artillery  not  included  in  the  reports  of  bri 
gadts,  could  not  have  reached  five  thousand  men.  The 
field-guns  with  our  army,  which  were  all  that  were  used, 
were  not  near  half  as  many  as  those  of  the  enemy,  and  man j 


THE  SOLDIER.  7 

of  them  were  of  inferior  metal  and  pattern.  "We  had  not, 
then,  had  an  opportunity  of  supplying  ourselves  with  the 
improved  guns  of  the  enemy.  Much  the  largest  portion  of 
our  small-arms  consisted  of  the  smooth-bore  musket,  while 
the  enemy  was  well  supplied  with  improved  rifle-muskets. 

"  From  the  data  I  have  given,  you  will  perceive  that  I 
have  not  under-estimated  the  strength  of  the  forces  at  General 
Lee's  command  ;  and  this  was  the  largest  army  he  ever  com 
manded.  The  idea  of  relieving  Richmond,  by  an  attack  on 
McClellan's  flank  and  rear,  was  a  masterly  conception,  and 
the  boldness,  not  to  say  audacity,  of  it  will  appear  when  we 
take  into  consideration  the  relative  strength  of  the  two  ar 
mies,  and  the  fact  that,  in  swinging  around  the  enemy's  flank, 
General  Lee  left  very  little  over  twenty-five  thousand  men 
between  the  capital  and  the  besieging  army.  Timid  minds 
might  regard  this  as  rashness,  but  it  was  the  very  perfection 
of  a  profound  and  daring  strategy.  Had  McClellan  ad 
vanced  to  the  assault  of  the  city,  through  the  open  plains 
around  it,  his  destruction  would  have  been  insured.  As  it 
was,  his  only  chance  for  escape  was  in  a  retreat  through  the 
swamps  and  forests,  which  concealed  and  sheltered  his  col 
umns  on  their  flight  to  the  banks  of  the  James.  Notwith- 

O 

standing  the  favorable  nature  of  the  country  for  his  escape, 
McClellan's  army  would  have  been  annihilated,  had  General 
Xee's  orders  been  promptly  and  rigidly  carried  out  by  his 
subordinates.  The  bloody  battle  of  Malvern  Hill  would  not 
have  been  fought ;  and,  when  it  was  fought,  a  crushing  defeat 
would  have  been  inflicted  on  the  enemy,  had  the  plans  of  the 
commanding  general  been  carried  into  execution,  as  I  could 
demonstrate  to  you,  if  it  were  profitable  to  enter  into  such  a 
disquisition.  McClellan  was  glad  enough  to  escape  from 
that  field  with  his  shattered  forces,  though  he  pretended  to 
claim  a  victory ;  and  the  pious  Lincoln  gave  '  ten  thousand 
thanks  for  it.' 

"McClellan  always  insisted  that  we  had  overwhelming 
numbers  against  him,  and  this  hallucination  seems  to  have 


8  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

haunted  him  until  the  close  of  his  career,  if  he  is  yet  rid  of 
it.  On  the  night  of  the  25th  of  June,  he  telegraphed  to 
Stanton  as  follows : 

" i  I  incline  to  think  that  Jackson  will  attack  my  right 
and  rear.  The  rebel  force  is  stated  at  two  hundred  thou 
sand,  including  Jackson  and  Beauregard.  I  shall  have  to 
contend  against  vastly  superior  odds  if  these  reports  be  true. 
But  this  army  will  do  all  in  the  power  of  men  to  hold  their 
position,  and  repulse  any  attack.' 

"  In  his  report  he  says  : 

"  i  The  report  of  the  chief  of  the  "  secret-service  corps," 
herewith  forwarded,  and  dated  the  26th  of  June  [1862], 
shows  the  estimated  strength  of  the  enemy,  at  the  time  of 
the  evacuation  of  Yorktown,  to  have  been  from  one  hundred 
thousand  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand.  The  same 
report  puts  his  numbers,  on  the  26th  of  June,  at  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand,  and  the  specific  information 
obtained  regarding  their  organization  warrants  the  belief  that 
this  estimate  did  not  exceed  his  actual  strength.' 

"  He  missed  it  by  only  one  hundred  thousand,  and  his 
statement  shows  the  impression  made  on  him  by  the  fight 
ing  of  our  army  under  General  Lee,  and  which  he  never  got 
over.  All  the  time  he  was  at  his  '  new  base,'  he  was  afflicted 
with  this  dread  phantom  of  overwhelming  numbers  against 
him,  which,  according  to  his  account,  were  being  constantly 
increased,  and  he  begged  most  earnestly  for  reinforcements. 
Halleck,  then  lately  appointed  commander-in-chief  at  Wash 
ington,  visited  Harrison's  Landing  about  the  last  of  July, 
and  after  he  got  back,  he  reported,  in  writing,  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  "War,  that  McClellan  and  his  officers  represented  our 
forces,  then,  at  not  less  than  two  hundred  thousand,  and  his 
own  force  at  about  ninety  thousand. 

"A  new  commander  had  now  appeared  in  Virginia,  on 
the  north  of  the  Kapidan,  in  the  person  of  Major-General 
John  Pope,  whose  headquarters  were  in  the  saddle;  who 
had  never  seen  any  thing  of  the  <  rebels '  but  their  backs ; 


THE  SOLDIER.  9 

and  who  felt  no  concern  whatever  about  strength  of  posi 
tions,  bases  of  supplies,  or  lines  of  retreat.  All  he  wanted 
to  know,  was,  where  the  c  rebels '  were,  so  that  he  might c  go 
at  them ; '  and  he  left  the  lines  of  retreat  to  take  care  of 
themselves,  while  the  '  enemy's  country '  was  to  be  the  base 
of  his  supplies.  His  army,  according  to  his  own  statement, 
amounted  to  over  forty-three  thousand  men.  General  Jack 
son  had  been  quietly  sent  up  to  Gordonsville,  with  his  own 
and  Ewell's  divisions,  which  were  soon  followed  by  that  of 
A.  P.  Hill.  While  McClellan  was  trembling  at  the  idea  of 
vastly  superior  numbers  accumulating  against  him,  Pope  tele 
graphed  to  Halleck : 

"  *  The  enemy  is  reported  to  be  evacuating  Eichmond, 
and  falling  back  on  Danville  and  Lynchburg.' 

"  General  Jackson  soon  began  to  show  Pope  some  things 
that  were  entirely  new  to  him.  The  battle  of  Cedar  Eun,  or 
Slaughter's  Mountain,  was  fought  on  the  9th  of  August,  and 
a  ' change  came  over  the  spirit'  of  Pope's  dream.  In  fact, 
he  began  to  see  some  remarkable  sights,  with  which  he  was 
destined  to  soon  become  familiar.  About  this  time,  McClel- 
lan  sent  a  dispatch  to  Halleck,  in  which  is  this  striking 
passage : 

" 1 1  don't  like  Jackson's  movements ;  he  will  suddenly 
appear  when  least  expected.' 

"  There  were  not  many,  on  that  side,  who  did  like  Gen 
eral  Jackson's  ways.  The  authorities  at  Washington  were 
completely  bewildered  by  his  new  eccentricities,  and  the 
evacuation  of  the  c  new  base,'  which  had  been  assumed  with 
so  much  ability  and  celerity,  was  peremptorily  ordered. 

"  Burnside  soon  arrived  at  Fredericksburg  with  thirteen 
thousand  men,  brought  from  North  and  South  Carolina, 
eight  thousand  of  whom,  under  Eeno,  were  sent  to  Pope. 
In  the  mean  time,  General  Lee  had  been  watching  McClel- 
lan's  force,  and,  having  become  convinced  that  there  was  no 
immediate  danger  to  Eichmond,  he  determined  to  move 
against  Pope,  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  him  before  he 


10  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

could  be  reenforced,  and  entirely  relieving  Richmond,  by 
forcing  McClellan  to  go  to  the  defense  of  Washington. 
Leaving  D.  H.  Hill's  and  McLaws's  divisions,  two  brigades 
under  J.  G.  Walker,  a  brigade  of  cavalry  under  Hampton, 
and  some  other  troops,  at  Drury's  and  Chaffin's  Bluffs,  to 
watch  McClellan,  General  Lee  moved  with  the  remainder  of 
his  army  to  the  Rapidan.  Getting  wind  of  the  intended 
movement  against  him,  by  the  accidental  capture  of  a  dis 
patch  to  Stuart,  Pope  fell  back  behind  the  Eappahannock, 
and  the  two  armies  soon  confronted  each  other  on  its  banks. 
A  raid  by  Stuart  to  Pope's  rear  resulted  in  the  capture  of 
the  latter's  headquarters  and  his  correspondence,  which  latter 
showed  that  McClellan's  army  was  hastening  to  Pope's  assist 
ance.  D.  H.  Hill,  McLaws,  "Walker,  and  Hampton,  were 
ordered  forward  at  once,  and  while  Pope  was  looking  stead 
ily  to  the  front  for  the  '  rebels,'  without  thought  for  his  base 
of  supplies,  and  in  utter  oblivion  of  any  possible  line  of  re 
treat,  General  Jackson  was  sent  on  that  remarkably  bold  and 
dashing  expedition  to  the  enemy's  rear,  for  the  purpose  of 
destroying  Pope's  communications,  and  preventing  the  ad 
vance  of  McClellan's  army  to  his  assistance.  Pope  now 
found  it  necessary  to  look  out  for  his  supplies  and  his  line  of 
retreat,  and  then  ensued  that  series  of  engagements  called 
{ the  second  battle  of  Manassas.'  Pope  had  already  been 
joined  by  two  corps  of  McClellan's  army,  Porter's  and 
Ileintzslman's,  the  one  by  the  way  of  Fredericksburg,  and 
the  other  over  the  railroad ;  and  Jackson's  three  divisions, 
numbering  less  than  twenty  thousand  men,  after  cutting  the 
railroad,  and  destroying  several  trains  of  cars  and  immense 
stores  at  Manassas,  which  could  not  be  removed  for  want  of 
transportation,  withstood  for  two  days,  beginning  on  the 
28th  of  August,  Pope's  entire  army,  reenforced  by  Reno's 
eight  thousand  men,  and  McClellan's  two  corps,  while  Gen 
eral  Lee  was  moving  up  with  Longstreet's  and  Anderson's 
commands.  !N"ever  did  General  Jackson  display  his  leading 
characteristics  more  conspicuously  than  on  this  occasion,  and 


THE  SOLDIER.  u 

he  fully  justified  the  confidence  of  tlie  commanding  general, 
in  intrusting  him  with  the  execution  of  one  of  the  most  brill 
iant  and  daring  strategic  movements  on  record.  Every  attack 
by  Pope's  immense  army  was  repulsed  with  heavy  slaughter, 
and  during  the  29th  all  the  fighting  on  our  side  was  done  by 
Jackson's  corps,  except  an  affair  about  dusk  between  a  part 
of  McDowell's  corps  and  the  advance  of  Longstreet's  com 
mand,  which  began  to  arrive  between  eleven  and  twelve  in 
the  day,  but  did  not  become  engaged  until  at  the  close,  when 
an  advance  was  made  along  the  Warrenton  Pike,  by  one  of 
McDowell's  divisions,  under  the  very  great  delusion  that 
Jackson  was  retreating.  On  the  morning  of  the  30th  the 
attacks  on  Jackson's  position,  on  the  line  of  an  unfinished 
railroad-track,  were  renewed,  and  continued  until  the  after 
noon,  with  the  same  result  as  the  day  before.  Longstreet 
did  not  become  engaged  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  when, 
by  a  combined  attack,  Pope's  army  was  driven  across  Bull 
Run  in  great  disorder  and  with  immense  loss. 

"Pope's  report  and  telegraphic  correspondence  afford  a 
rich  fund  of  amusement  for  those  acquainted  with  the  facts 
of  his  brief  campaign  in  Virginia,  but  this  I  must  pass  over. 

"  He  claimed  to  have  entirely  defeated  and  routed  Jack 
son  on  the  29th,  and  he  actually  had  one  corps  commander 
cashiered  for  not  cutting  off  the  retreat  and  capturing  the 
whole  force,  which  he  claims  to  have  routed.  In  a  dispatch 
to  Halleck,  dated  5.30  A.  M.,  on  the  30th,  he  says : 

"  f  We  have  lost  not  less  than  eight  thousand  men,  killed 
and  wounded;  but,  from  the  appearance  of  the  field,  the 
enemy  lost  at  least  two  to  one.  He  stood  strictly  on  the 
defensive,  and  every  assault  was  made  by  ourselves.  The 
battle  was  fought  on  the  identical  field  of  Bull  Run,  which 
greatly  increased  the  enthusiasm  of  the  men.  The  news  just 
reaches  me  from  the  front  that  the  enemy  is  retiring  toward 
the  mountains.  I  go  forward  at  once  to  see.  We  have  made 
great  captures,  but  I  am  not  able,  yet,  to  form  an  idea 
of  their  extent.' 


12  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

"  He  went  forward,  and  saw  more  than  wras  agreeable  to 
him,  and  found  that  he  had  captured  a  *  Tartar.' 

"  In  a  dispatch  dated  9.45  p.  M.,  on  the  30th,  after  the 
great  battle  of  that  day  was  over,  he  said : 

"  '  The  battle  was  most  furious  for  hours  without  cessa 
tion,  and  the  losses  on  both  sides  were  very  heavy.  The 
enemy  is  badly  whipped,  and  we  shall  do  well  enough.  Do 
not  be  uneasy.  We  will  hold  our  own  here.' 

"  To  this  Halleck  replied  on  the  morning  of  the  31st : 

"  '  You  have  done  nobly.  Don't  yield  another  inch  if  you 
can  avoid  it.  All  reserves  are  being  sent  forward.' 

"  Yet,  after  all  of  McClellan's  troops,  except  one  division 
left  at  Yorktown,  had  arrived,  and  before  another  gun  had 
been  fired,  Pope  telegraphed  to  Halleck,  at  10.45  A.  M.,  on 
the  31st : 

" 1 1  should  like  to  know  whether  you.  feel  secure  about 
Washington,  should  this  army  be  destroyed.  I  shall  fight  it 
as  long  as  a  man  will  stand  up  to  the  work.' 

"  The  army  that  had  been  so  badly  whipped  on  the  30th, 
was  soon  advancing  against  Pope  again.  Jackson,  by  another 
flank  movement,  struck  the  retreating  army  at  Chantilly  or 
Ox  Hill,  and  the  shattered  remains  of  it,  now  reenforced  by 
two  fresh  corps  and  a  division  of  McClellan's  army,  were 
hurled  into  the  fortifications  around  Washington. 

"  Major-General  John  Pope  had  now  seen  as  much  of  the 
'  rebels '  as  he  cared  to  look  upon,  and  he  disappeared  from 
the  scene  of  action,  in  many  respects  f  a  wiser  if  not  a  better 
man.'  To  get  him  as  far  as  possible  from  the  dangerous 
proximity,  he  was  sent  to  the  extreme  Northwest  to  look 
after  the  red-men  of  the  plains.  When  we  recollect  the  bom 
bastic  proclamations  and  orders  of  Pope  at  the  beginning  of 
his  brief  campaign,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  he  was 
brought  to  grief,  there  appears  so  much  of  the  ludicrous  in 
the  whole,  that  we  are  almost  tempted  to  overlook  the  fiend 
ish  malignity  which  characterized  some  of  his  orders  and 
acts. 


THE  SOLDIER.  13 

"  In  his  report,  after  saying — 

"  <  Every  indication,  during  the  night  of  the  29th,  and  up 
to  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  pointed  to  the 
retreat  of  the  enemy  from  our  front ' — 

"  He  further  says : 

"  i  During  the  whole  night  of  the  29th  and  the  morning 
of  the  30th,  the  advance  of  the  main  army,  under  Lee,  was 
arriving  on  the  field  to  reenf  orce  Jackson,  so  that  by  twelve 
or  one  o'clock  in  the  day  we  were  confronted  by  forces  greatly 
superior  to  our  own ;  and  these  forces  were  being,  every 
moment,  largely  increased  by  fresh  arrivals  of  the  enemy  in 
the  direction  of  Thoroughfare  Gap.'  So  that  this  was  another 
case  of  overwhelmiDg  numbers  on  our  side. 

"  Pope's  army  was  originally,  according  to  his  statement, 
forty-three  thousand,  and,  according  to  Halleck,  forty  thou 
sand.  He  had  been  reenf  orced  by  eight  thousand  men  under 
Reno;  a  body  of  troops  from  the  Kanawha  Valley,  under 
Cox ;  another  from  Washington,  under  Sturgis,  and  all  of 
McClellan's  army,  except  one  division,  say  eighty-five  thou 
sand  men.  General  Lee  had  then  between  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  thousand  and  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  men 
to  deal  with  on  this  occasion.  The  whole  of  McClellan's 
force  was  not  up  at  the  battle  of  the  30th,  but  all  of  it,  except 
the  one  division  of  Keyes's  corps  left  at  Yorktown,  was  up 
by  the  time  of  the  affair  at  Ox  Hill,  on  the  1st  of  September. 
General  Lee's  whole  force,  at  second  Manassas,  did  not  ex 
ceed  fifty  thousand  men.  Neither  D.  H.  Hill's,  nor  McLaws's, 
nor  Walker's  division  of  infantry,  nor  Hampton's  brigade  of 
cavalry,  had  arrived,  and  neither  of  them  got  up  until  after 
the  affair  at  Ox  Hill.  We  had  only  twenty-nine  brigades  of 
infantry  and  two  of  cavalry  present  at  second  Manassas,  one 
of  the  latter  being  very  weak.  One  of  the  infantry  brigades, 
Starke's  Louisiana  brigade,  had  been  formed  of  regiments 
attached  to  other  brigades  at  the  battles  around  Richmond, 
and  another  had  arrived  from  the  South  during  July.  This 
latter  brigade  constituted  all  the  reenf orcements,  except  men 


14  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

returned  from  convalescence,  received  after  these  battles,  and 
was  twenty-two  hundred  strong  the  last  of  July.  The  whole 
force  in  the  department  of  Northern  Virginia,  on  the  31st 
of  July,  1862,  was  sixty-nine  thousand  five  hundred  and 
fifty-nine  for  duty.  Deduct,  ratably,  for  the  twelve  infantry 
brigades,  with  their  proportion  of  artillery,  and  the  one  cav 
alry  brigade  absent,  besides  troops  on  detached  duty  at 
various  points,  and  you  will  see  how  General  Lee's  army 
must  have  been  under  fifty  thousand  at  second  Manassas. 
Yet  it  had  sent  the  combined  armies  of  Pope  and  McClellan 
into  the  defenses  of  Washington,  in  a  very  crippled  condition, 
and  thrown  the  Government  there  into  a  great  panic  in 
regard  to  the  safety  of  that  city.  Fredericksburg  had  been 
evacuated,  and  the  remainder  of  Burnside's  corps  brought  to 
Washington,  while  a  call  had  been  made  for  three  hundred 
thousand  new  troops. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  exhaustion  of  his  troops  from  the 
heavy  tax  on  all  their  energies,  the  heavy  losses  in  battle,  and 
the  want  of  commissary  stores,  General  Lee  now  undertook 
the  bold  scheme  of  crossing  the  Potomac  into  Maryland,  with 
his  army  reenf orced  by  the  eleven  brigades  of  infantry,  under 
D.  H.  Hill,  McLaws,  and  Walker,  and  Hampton's  cavalry, 
which  were  coming  up.  On  the  3d  of  September  our  army 
was  put  in  motion,  and,  passing  through  Leesburg,  it  crossed 
over  and  concentrated  at  and  near  Frederick  City,  by  the  7th 
of  the  month.  This  movement  threw  the  authorities  at 
Washington  into  great  consternation  and  dismay.  McClellan 
had  been  assigned  to  the  command  of  all  the  troops  in  and 
around  Washington,  and  the  correspondence  between  himself 
and  Halleck,  conducted  mostly  by  telegraph,  shows  how  utter 
ly  bewildered  they  were.  Both  of  them  were  firmly  im 
pressed  with  the  conviction  that  our  numbers  were  over 
whelming,  and  they  did  not  know  where  to  look  for  the  im 
pending  blow.  McClellan  moved  out  of  the  city  with  great 
caution,  feeling  his  way  gradually  toward  Frederick,  while  a 
considerable  force,  which  was  constantly  augmented  by  the 


THE   SOLDIER.  15 

arrival  of  new  troops,  was  retained  at  Washington,  for  fear  that 
city  should  be  captured  by  a  sudden  coup  from  the  south  side. 
A  considerable  force  had  been  isolated  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and 
General  Lee  sent  Jackson's  corps,  McLaws's,  Anderson's,  and 
Walker's  divisions,  in  all  twenty-six  brigades  of  infantry, 
with  the  accompanying  artillery,  to  invest  and  capture  that 
place,  retaining  with  himself  only  fourteen  brigades  of  infan 
try,  with  the  accompanying  and  reserve  artillery,  and  the 
main  body  of  the  cavalry,  with  which  he  crossed  to  the  west 
side  of  the  South  Mountain.  The  order  directing  these 
movements,  by  some  accident,  fell  into  McClellan's  hands  on 
the  13th,  and  he  hurried  his  troops  forward  to  attack  the 
small  force  with  General  Lee,  and  relieve  Harper's  Ferry  if 
possible.  A  sanguinary  engagement  occurred  at  Boonsboro' 
Gap,  on  the  14th,  between  D.  II.  Hill's  division,  constituting 
the  rear-guard  of  the  column  with  General  Lee,  and  the  bulk 
of  McClellan's  army  ;  and  Hill,  after  maintaining  his  position 
for  many  hours,  was  compelled  to  retire  at  night  with  heavy 
loss,  the  troops  sent  to  his  assistance  not  having  arrived  in 
time  to  repulse  the  enemy.  That  night,  Longstreet's  and 
Hill's  commands  crossed  the  Antietam  to  Sharpsburg,  where 
they  took  position  on  the  morning  of  the  15th.  In  the  mean 
time,  Harper's  Ferry  had  been  invested,  and  surrendered  on 
the  morning  of  the  15th — our  victory  being  almost  a  blood 
less  one,  so  far  as  the  resistance  of  the  garrison  was  concerned ; 
but  McLaws  and  Anderson  had  had  very  heavy  fighting,  on 
the  Maryland  side,  with  a  part  of  McClellan's  army.  As 
soon  as  General  Lee  heard  of  the  success  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
he  ordered  all  the  troops  operating  against  that  place  to  move 
to  Sharpsburg  as  soon  as  practicable.  Leaving  A.  P.  Hill, 
with  his  division,  to  dispose  of  the  prisioners  and  property 
captured  at  Harper's  Ferry,  General  Jackson,  late  in  the  after 
noon  of  the  15th,  ordered  his  own  division  and  E well's,  the 
latter  now  under  Lawton,  to  Sharpsburg,  where  they  arrived 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  16th.  "Walker's  two  brigades 
came  up  later  in  the  day.  The  ten  brigades  brought  by  Jack- 


10  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

son  and  Walker  made  twenty-four  brigades  of  infantry,  with 
the  fourteen  already  on  the  ground,  which  General  Lee  had 
with  him  when  the  bat  tie  of  Sharpsburg  opened  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  17th  of  September.  Jackson's  division  was  placed 
on  the  left  flank,  and  Hood's  two  brigades,  which  were  next 
to  it  on  the  right,  were  relieved  by  two  brigades  of  Swell's 
division  during  the  night  of  the  16th,  and  these  were  ree'n- 
forced  by  another  very  early  the  next  morning.  General 
Jackson's  whole  force  on  the  field  consisted  of  five  thousand 
infantry  and  a  very  few  batteries  of  his  own  division.  One 
brigade,  my  own,  numbering  about  one  thousand  men  and 
officers,  was  detached,  at  light,  toward  the  Potomac  on  our 
left,  to  support  some  artillery  with  which  Stuart  was  operat 
ing  ;  so  that  General  Jackson  had  only  four  thousand  infan 
try  in  line,  and  D.  II.  Hill  was  immediately  on  his  right,  hold 
ing  the  centre  and  left  centre  with  his  division,  then  three 
thousand  strong.  General  Lee's  whole  infantry  force  on  the 
field,  at  the  beginning  of  the  battle,  did  not  exceed  fifteen 
thousand  men,  including  Jackson's  and  "Walker's  commands. 
On  the  left  and  left  centre,  McClellan  hurled,  in  succession, 
the  four  corps  of  Hooker,  Mansfield,  Sumner,  and  Franklin, 
numbering,  in  the  aggregate,  fifty-six  thousand  and  ninety-five 
men,  according  to  his  report ;  and  a  sanguinary  battle  raged 
for  several  hours,  during  which,  Hood's  two  brigades,  my 
brigade,  "Walker's  two  brigades,  Anderson's  brigade  of  D.  E. 
Jones's  division,  and  McLaws's  and  Anderson's  divisions,  suc 
cessively  went  to  the  support  of  the  part  of  the  line  assailed, 
at  different  points,  the  last  two  divisions  having  arrived  late 
in  the  morning,  during  the  progress  of  the  battle.  And  all 
the  troops  engaged,  from  first  to  last,  with  the  enemy's  fifty- 
six  thousand  and  ninety-five  men,  on  that  wing,  did  not  ex 
ceed  eighteen  thousand  men.  At  the  close  of  the  fighting 
there,  our  left  was  advanced  beyond  where  it  rested  in  the 
morning,  while  the  centre  had  been  forced  back  some  two 
hundred  yards. 

"  In  the  afternoon,  Bumside's  corps,  over  thirteen  thou- 


THE   SOLDIER.  17 

sand  strong,  attacked  our  right,  and,  after  gaining  some  ad 
vantage,  was  driven  back  with  the  aid  of  three  of  A.  P. 
Hill's  brigades,  which  had  just  arrived  from  Harper's  Ferry. 
At  the  close  of  the  battle,  we  held  our  position  firmly,  with 
the  centre  slightly  forced  back,  as  I  have  stated.  We  con 
tinued  to  hold  the  position  during  the  18th,  and  McClellan 
did  not  venture  to  renew  the  attack.  In  the  mean  time, 
heavy  reinforcements  were  moving  to  his  assistance,  two  divi 
sions  of  which,  Couch's  and  Humphrey's,  fourteen  thousand 
strong,  arrived  on  the  18th,  while  General  Lee  had  no  possi 
bility  of  being  reenforced  except  by  the  stragglers  who 
might  come  up,  and  they  constituted  a  poor  dependence. 
The  Potomac  was  immediately  in  his  rear,  and,  as  it  would 
have  been  folly  for  him  to  have  waited  until  an  overpower 
ing  force  was  accumulated  against  him,  he  very  properly  and 
judiciously  retired  on  the  night  of  the  18th,  and  recrossed 
the  river  early  on  the  morning  of  the  19th.  A  very  feeble 
effort  at  pursuit  by  one  corps  was  most  severely  punished 
by  A.  P.  Hill's  division  on  the  20th. 

"  This  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  battles  of  the  war, 
and  has  been  but  little  understood.  You  will,  therefore,  par 
don  me  for  going  somewhat  into  detail  in  regard  to  it. 
When  General  Lee  took  his  position  on  the  morning  of  the 
15th,  he  had  with  him  but  fourteen  brigades  of  infantry,  be 
sides  the  artillery  and  cavalry.  The  official  reports  show 
that  D.  H.  Hill's  five  brigades  numbered  then  only  three 
thousand  men  for  duty,  and  six  brigades  under  D.  R.  Jones 
only  twenty-four  hundred  and  thirty  men.  The  strength 
of  three  brigades  is  not  given,  but  they  were  not  more 
than  of  an  average  size  —  and,  estimating  their  strength 
in  that  way,  it  would  give  less  than  seven  thousand  five 
hundred  infantry  with  which,  and  the  artillery  and  cavalry 
with  him,  General  Lee  confronted  McClellan's  army  during 
the  whole  of  the  15th  and  part  of  the  16th.  The  arrival  of 
Jackson's  and  Walker's  commands  did  not  increase  the  in 
fantry  to  more  than  fifteen  thousand  men,  and  they  brought 
2 


18  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

very  little  artillery  with  them.  During  the  day,  McLaws, 
Anderson,  and  A.  P.  Hill,  came  up  with  thirteen  brigades, 
making  thirty-seven  "brigades  which  participated  in  the  battle. 
The  official  reports  give  the  strength  of  twenty-seven  of  these, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  sixteen  thousand  nine  hun 
dred  and  twenty-three  men.  Taking  the  average  for  the 
other  ten — and  they  were  not  more  than  average  brigades, 
if  that — and  it  would  give  about  twenty-three  thousand  in 
fantry  engaged  on  our  side  from  first  to  last.  The  cavalry, 
consisting  of  three  brigades,  which  were  not  strong,  was  not 
engaged  and  merely  watched  the  flanks.  A  very  large  por 
tion  of  our  artillery,  which  had  been  used  against  Harper's 
Ferry,  had  not  arrived,  and  did  not  get  up  until  after  night 
fall,  when  the  battle  was  over.  We  had,  in  fact,  comparative 
ly  few  guns  engaged,  and  the  enemy's  guns  were  not  only 
very  numerous,  but  of  heavier  metal  and  longer  range. 
Taking  the  whole  force,  including  the  cavalry  and  the  artil 
lery,  when  all  of  the  latter  had  arrived,  and  we  had  less  than 
thirty  thousand  men  of  all  arms  at  this  battle,  from  first  to 
last.  General  Lee,  in  his  report,  says  that  he  had  less  than 
forty  thousand  men  ;  but,  for  reasons  that  can  be  well  under 
stood,  he  never  did  disclose  his  own  weakness  at  any  time, 
even  to  his  own  officers. 

"  "When  our  army  started  for  Maryland,  after  the  affair  at 
Ox  Hill,  it  was  out  of  rations,  badly  clothed,  and  worse  shod. 
At  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Sharpsburg,  it  had  been  march 
ing  and  fighting  for  near  six  weeks,  and  the  straggling  from 
exhaustion,  sore  feet,  and  in  search  of  food,  had  been  terrible, 
before  we  crossed  the  Potomac.  When  it  is  recollected  that 
the  entire  force  at  the  end  of  July,  in  all  the  Department  of 
Northern  Yirginia,  was  only  a  very  little  over  sixty-nine 
thousand  men,  of  which  sixty  thousand,  including  D.  H. 
Hill's,  McLaws's,  and  "Walker's  divisions,  would  be  a  liberal 
estimate  for  all  that  were  carried  into  the  field,  you  will  see 
that  a  loss  of  thirty  thousand  in  battle,  from  Cedar  Run  to 
South  Mountain,  inclusive,  and  from  the  other  causes  named, 


THE   SOLDIER.  19 

it  is  not  an  unreasonable  estimate.  In  fact,  at  the  end  of 
September,  when  the  stragglers  had  been  gathered  up,  and 
many  of  the  sick  and  wounded  had  returned  to  duty,  with 
the  additions  from  the  conscripts,  the  official  returns  show 
only  fifty-two  thousand  six  hundred  and  nine  for  duty  in 
the  whole  Department  of  Northern  Virginia. 

"  McClellan,  in  his  report,  gives  his  own  force  at  eighty- 
seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  in  action,  and  he 
gives  an  estimate  of  General  Lee's  army,  in  detail,  in  which 
he  places  our  strength  at  ninety-seven  thousand  four  hundred 
and  forty-five  men  and  four  hundred  guns  at  this  battle. 
Truly,  our  boys  in  gray  had  a  wonderful  faculty  of  magnify 
ing  and  multiplying  themselves  in  battle ;  and  McClellan 
could  not  have  paid  a  higher  compliment  to  their  valor,  and 
the  ability  of  our  commander,  than  he  has  done  by  this  esti 
mate  of  our  strength,  as  it  appeared  to  him. 

"  In  giving  his  reasons  for  not  renewing  the  battle  on  the 
18th,  he  says : 

"  '  One  division  of  Simmer's  corps,  and  all  of  Hooker's 
corps  on  the  right,  had,  after  fighting  most  valiantly  for  several 
hours,  been  overpowered  by  numbers,  driven  in  'great  disor 
der  and  much  scattered,  so  that  they  were  for  the  time  some 
what  demoralized.' 

"  I  have  shown  how  they  were  outnumbered. 

"  Burnside,  in  his  testimony  before  the  committee  on  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  said : 

" i  I  was  told  at  General  McClellan's  headquarters,  that 
our  right  had  been  so  badly  broken  that  they  could  not  be 
got  together  for  an  attack,  and  they  would  have  to  wait  for 
reinforcements ;  and  that  General  Sumner  advised  General 
McClellan  not  to  renew  the  attack,  because  of  the  condition 
of  his  corps ;  and  it  was  also  stated  that  very  little  of  Gen 
eral  Hooker's  corps  was  left.' 

"  This  was  on  the  night  of  the  17th,  after  the  battle  was 
over.  On  the  27th,  McClellan  wrote  to  Halleck  as  follows : 

" ( In  the  last  battles  the  enemy  was  undoubtedly  greatly 


20  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

superior  to  us  in  numbers,  and  it  was  only  by  hard  fighting 
that  we  gained  the  advantage  we  did.  As  it  was,  the  result 
was  at  one  time  very  doubtful,  and  we  had  all  we  could  do 
to  win  the  day.' 

"Win  the  day,  indeed!  He  had  not  dared  to  renew  the 
attack  on  the  18th,  and  he  did  not  venture  to  claim  a  victory 
until  the  19th,  when  he  found  General  Lee  had  recrossed 
the  Potomac,  and  then  he  began  to  breathe  freely  and  to 
crow,  at  first  feebly,  and  then  more  loudly.  Who  ever  heard 
of  a  victory  by  an  attacking  army  in  an  open  field,  and  yet 
the  victor  was  unable  to  advance  against  his  antagonist  who 
stood  his  ground  ? 

"To  give  you  some  idea  of  the  immense  difficulties  Gen 
eral  Lee  had  to  encounter  in  this  campaign,  and  the  wonder 
ful  facility  the  enemy  had  for  raising  men,  and  reenforcing 
his  armies  after  defeat,  through  the  agencies  of  the  telegraph, 
railroads,  and  steam-power,  let  me  tell  you  that  a  certified 
statement  compiled  from  McClellan's  morning  report  of  the 
20th  of  September,  1862,  contained  in  the  report  of  the  com 
mittee  on  the  conduct  of  the  war,  shows  a  grand  total  pres 
ent  for  duty  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  that  day,  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty-four  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine,  of  which  seventy-one  thousand  two  hundred  and  ten 
were  in  the  defenses  of  "Washington  under  Banks,  leaving 
ninety -three  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty -nine  with 
McClellan  in  the  field  on  that  day.  A  very  large  portion  of 
this  force  had  been  accumulated  by  means  of  the  railroads, 
after  the  defeat  of  Pope.  You  may  understand  now  how  it 
was  that  our  victories  could  never  be  pressed  to  more  decisive 
results.  It  was  genius,  and  nerve,  and  valor,  on  the  one  side, 
against  numbers  and  mechanical  power  on  the  other ;  even 
the  lightning  of  the  heavens  being  made  subservient  to  the 
latter. 

"  You  may  also  form  some  conception  of  the  boldness  of 
General  Lee's  movement  across  the  Potomac,  the  daring 
of  the  expedition  against  Harper's  Ferry  in  the  face  of  sc 


THE  SOLDIER.  o^ 

large  a  force,  and  the  audacity  with  which  he  confronted  and 
defied  McClellan's  army  on  the  15th  and  16th,  and  then 
fought  it  on  the  17th  with  the  small  force  he  had. 

"  Sharpsburg  was  no  defeat  to  our  arms,  though  our  army 
was  retired  to  the  south  bank  of  the  Potomac  from  pruden 
tial  considerations. 

"  Some  persons  have  been  disposed  to  regard  this  cam 
paign  into  Maryland  as  a  failure,  but  such  was  not  the  case. 
It  is  true  that  we  had  failed  to  raise  Maryland,  but  it  was 
from  no  disaster  to  our  arms. 

"  In  a  military  point  of  view,  however,  the  whole  cam 
paign,  of  which  the  movement  into  Maryland  was  an  integral 
part,  had  been  a  grand  success,  though  all  was  not  accom 
plished  which  our  fond  hopes  caused  us  to  expect.  When 
General  Lee  assumed  command  of  the  army  at  Richmond,  a 
besieging  army  of  immense  size  and  resources  was  in  sight  of 
the  spires  of  the  Confederate  capital — all  Northern  Virginia 
was  in  possession  of  the  enemy — the  Valley  overrun,  except 
when  Jackson's  vigorous  and  rapid  blows  sent  the  marauders 
staggering  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  for  a  brief  interval ; 
and  Northwestern  Virginia,  including  the  Kanawha  Valley, 
was  subjugated  and  in  the  firm  grasp  of  the  enemy.  By 
General  Lee's  bold  strategy  and  rapid  and  heavy  blows,  the 
capital  had  been  relieved ;  the  besieging  army  driven  out  of 
the  State ;  the  enemy's  capital  threatened ;  his  country 
invaded ;  Northern  Virginia  and  the  Valley  cleared  of  the 
enemy ;  the  enemy's  troops  from  Northwestern  Virginia 
and  the  Kanawha  Valley  had  been  drawn  thence  for  the 
defense  of  his  own  capital;  a  Confederate  force  had  pene 
trated  to  Charleston,  Kanawha ;  our  whole  army  was  supplied 
with  the  improved  fire-arm  in  the  place  of  the  old  smooth 
bore  musket ;  much  of  our  inferior  field-artillery  replaced  by 
the  enemy's  improved  guns;  and,  in  addition  to  our  very 
large  captures  of  prisoners  and  the  munitions  of  war  else 
where,  the  direct  result  of  the  march  across  the  Potomac  was 
the  capture  of  eleven  thousand  prisoners,  seventy-three  pieces 


22  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

of  artillery,  and  thirteen  thousand  stand  of  excellent  small- 
arms,  and  immense  stores  at  Harper's  Ferry.  And,  at  the 
close  of  the  campaign,  the  Confederate  commander  stood 
proudly  defiant  on  the  extreme  northern  border  of  the  Con 
federacy,  while  his  opponent  had  had  'his  base'  removed  to 
the  northern  bank  of  the  Potomac,  at  a  point  more  than  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  from  the  Confederate  capi 
tal,  in  a  straight  line.  In  addition,  the  immense  army  of 
McClellan  had  been  so  crippled,  that  it  was  not  able  to 
resume  the  offensive  for  six  weeks.  Such  had  been  the 
moral  effect  upon  the  enemy,  that  the  Confederate  capital 
was  never  again  seriously  endangered,  until  the  power  of  the 
Confederacy  had  been  so  broken  in  other  quarters,  and  its 
available  territory  so  reduced  in  dimensions,  that  the  enemy 
could  concentrate  his  immense  resources  against  the  capital. 

"  All  this  had  been  the  result  of  that  plan  of  operations, 
of  which  the  invasion  of  Maryland  formed  an  important 
part.  Look  at  the  means  placed  at  the  command  of  General 
Lee,  and  the  immense  numbers  and  resources  brought  against 
him,  and  then  say  if  the  results  accomplished  by  him  were 
not  marvelous?  If  his  Government  had  been  able  to  fur 
nish  him  with  men  and  means,  at  all  commensurate  with  his 
achievements  and  his  conceptions,  he  would,  in  September, 
18G2,  have  dictated  the  terms  of  peace  in  the  capital  of  the 
enemy.  But  all  the  wonderful  powers  of  the  mechanic  arts 
and  physical  science,  backed  by  unlimited  resources  of  men 
and  money,  still  continued  to  operate  against  him. 

"  A  certified  statement  from  McClellan's  morning  report 
of  the  30th  of  September,  contained  in  the  document  from 
which  I  have  already  quoted,  showed,  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  a  grand  total  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-three 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty-five  present  for  duty  on 
that  day,  of  which  seventy-three  thousand  six  hundred  and 
one  were  in  the  defenses  of  Washington,  and  one  hundred 
thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-four  with  him  in  the  field  ; 
and  a  similar  statement  showed,  on  the  20th  of  October,  a 


THE  SOLDIER.  23 

grand  total  of  two  hundred  and  seven  thousand  and  thirty- 
six  present  for  duty  on  that  day,  of  which  seventy-three 
thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-three  were  in  the  defenses 
of  Washington,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand 
four  hundred  and  forty-three  with  McClellan  in  the  field. 

"  At  the  close  of  October,  according  to  the  official  returns 
now  on  file  at  the  c Archive  Office'  in  "Washington,  the 
whole  Confederate  force  for  duty  in  the  department  of 
Northern  Virginia  amounted  to  sixty-seven  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  five.  A  considerable  portion  of  this  force  was 
not  with  General  Lee  in  the  field. 

"  At  the  close  of  October,  McClellan  commenced  a  new 
movement  with  his  immense  army,  across  the  Potomac,  east 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  while  General  Lee  was  yet  in  the  Yalley. 
As  this  movement  was  developed,  Longstreet's  corps  and  the 
cavalry  under  Stuart  were  promptly  moved  to  intercept  it, 
Jackson's  corps  being  left  in  the  Yalley.  McClellan  was  soon 
superseded  in  the  command  by  Burnside,  and,  when  the  latter 
turned  his  steps  toward  the  heights  opposite  Fredericksburg, 
Jackson  was  ordered  to  rejoin  the  rest  of  the  army.  In  the 
mean  time,  Bumside's  attempt  to  approach  Richmond  on  the 
new  line  had  been  checkmated,  and  he  soon  found  himself 
confronted  on  the  Rappahannock  by  the  whole  of  General 
Lee's  army.  That  army  had  to  be  stretched  out,  for  some 
thirty  miles,  up  and  down  the  river,  to  watch  the  different 
crossings.  The  enemy  began  his  movement  to  cross  at  and 
near  Fredericksburg,  on  the  morm'ng  of  the  llth  of  Decem 
ber,  and  the  crossing  was  resisted  and  delayed  for  many  hours, 
but,  owing  to  the  peculiar  character  of  the  country  imme 
diately  on  the  south  bank,  and  the  advantage  the  enemy  had 
in  his  commanding  position  on  the  north  bank,  whence 
the  wide  plains  on  the  south  bank,  and  the  town  of  Fred 
ericksburg,  were  completely  commanded  and  swept  by  an 
immense  armament  of  heavy  artillery,  that  crossing  could  not 
be  prevented.  Our  army  was  rapidly  concentrated,  and  took 
its  position  on  the  heights  and  range  of  hills  in  rear  of  the 


24:      REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

town  and  the  plains  below ;  and,  when  the  heavy  columns  of 
the  enemy  advanced  to  the  assault  on  the  13th,  first  on  our 
right,  near  Hamilton's  crossing,  and  then  on  our  left,  in  rear 
of  Fredericksburg,  they  were  hurled  back  with  immense 
slaughter,  to  the  cover  of  the  artillery  on  the  opposite  heights, 
and  every  renewal  of  the  assault  met  the  same  fate.  In  this 
battle,  we  stood  entirely  on  the  defensive,  except  once,  when 
the  enemy  penetrated  an  interval  in  our  line  near  the  right 
flank,  and  three  of  my  brigades  advanced,  driving  and  pursu 
ing  the  enemy  into  the  plains  below,  until  he  reached  the 
protection  of  his  artillery  and  the  main  line.  Burnside's  loss 
was  so  heavy,  and  his  troops  were  so  worsted  in  the  assaults 
which  had  been  made,  that  his  principal  officers  protested 
against  a  renewal  of  the  attack,  and  on  the  night  of  the  15th 
he  recrossed  to  the  north  bank. 

"  In  this  battle,  he  had  all  of  McClellan's  army,  except 
the  Twelf th  Corps,  which  was  eight  or  ten  thousand  strong, 
and  had  been  left  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  in  lieu  of  that  he  had 
a  much  larger  corps,  the  Third,  from  the  defenses  of  "Wash 
ington.  In  his  testimony  before  the  committee  on  the  con 
duct  of  the  war,  he  says  he  had  one  hundred  thousand  men 
across  the  river,  and  he  was  doubtful  which  had  the  supe 
riority  of  numbers.  In  reply  to  a  question  as  to  the  causes 
of  the  failure  of  the  attack,  he  frankly  said : 

"  clt  was  found  to  be  impossible  to  get  the  men  up  to 
the  works.  The  enemy's  fire  was  too  hot  for  them.' 

"  Our  whole  force  present  was  not  much  more  than  half 
that  of  the  enemy,  which  crossed  over  to  the  south  side  of 
the  river.  This  signal  victory,  in  which  the  enemy's  loss 
was  very  heavy,  and  ours  comparatively  light,  closed  the 
operations  for  the  year  1862. 

"  Some  newspaper  critics  and  fireside  generals  were  not 
satisfied  with  the  results  of  this  victory,  and  thought  Burn- 
side's  army  ought  to  have  been  destroyed  before  it  went 
back  ;  and  there  were  some  absurd  stories  about  propositions 
alleged  to  have  been  made  by  General  Jackson,  for  driving 


THE  SOLDIER.  25 

the  enemy  into  the  river.  That  great  soldier  did  begin  a 
forward  movement,  about  sunset,  which  I  was  to  have  led, 
but,  just  as  my  men  were  moving  off,  he  countermanded  the 
movement,  because  the  enemy  opened  such  a  terrific  artillery 
fire  from  the  Stafford  Heights  and  from  behind  the  heavy 
embankments  on  the  road  leading  through  the  bottoms  on 
the  south  side  of  the  river,  that  it  was  apparent  that  nothing 
could  have  lived  in  the  passage  across  the  plain  of  about  a 
mile  in  width,  over  which  we  would  have  had  to  advance,  to 
reach  the  enemy  massed  in  that  road.  According  to  the 
statements  of  himself  and  officers,  before  the  committee  on 
the  conduct  of  the  war,  Franklin,  who  commanded  the 
enemy's  left,  had,  confronting  our  right,  from  fifty-five  to 
sixty  thousand  men,  of  whom  only  about  twenty  thousand 
had  been  under  fire.  The  bulk  of  that  force  was  along  the 
Bowling  Green  road,  running  parallel  to  the  river  through 
the  middle  of  the  bottoms,  and  behind  the  very  compact 
and  thick  embankments  on  each  side  of  that  road.  He  had 
taken  over  with  him  one  hundred  and  sixteen  pieces  of  ar 
tillery,  and  there  were  sixty-one  pieces  on  the  north  bank, 
some  of  which  were  of  very  large  calibre,  so  posted  as  to 
cover  the  bridges  on  that  flank,  and  sweep  the  plain  in  his 
front.  Some  of  these  were  also  crossed  over  to  him,  and 
General  Hunt,  Burnside's  chief  of  artillery,  says  fifty  or 
sixty  more  pieces  could  have  been  spared  from  their  right,  if 
necessary.  The  attempt  to  drive  this  force  into  the  river 
would  have,  therefore,  insured  our  destruction. 

"  Franklin  had  eight  divisions  with  him,  while  at  Freder- 
icksburg,  confronting  our  left,  were  ten  divisions,  fully  as 
strong,  certainly,  as  Franklin's  eight,  and  there  were  quite  as 
many  guns  on  that  flank.  It  is  true  the  enemy's  loss  there 
had  been  double  that  in  front  of  our  right,  but  he  still  had  a 
large  number  of  troops  on  that  flank  which  had  not  been  en 
gaged.  The  character  of  the  ground  in  front  of  our  position, 
on  that  flank,  was  such  that  our  troops  could  not  be  moved 
down  the  rugged  slopes  of  the  hills  in  any  order  of  battle, 


2G  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

and  any  attempt  to  advance  them  must  have  been  attended 
with  disastrous  consequences.  Burnside's  troops  were  not  so 
demoralized  as  to  prevent  him  from  being  anxious  to  renew 
the  attack  on  the  14th,  and  the  objection  of  his  officers  was 
not  on  account  of  the  condition  of  their  troops,  but  on  ac 
count  of  the  strength  of  our  position.  Nothing  could  have 
gratified  him  and  his  officers  more,  than  for  us  to  have  sur 
rendered  our  advantage  and  taken  the  offensive.  General 
Lee,  ever  ready  to  strike  when  an  opportunity  offered,  knew 
better  than  all  others  when  it  was  best  to  attack  and  when 
not  to  attack. 

"  It  is  a  notable  fact  about  all  those  people  who  favored 
such  blood-thirsty  and  desperate  measures,  that  they  were 
never  in  the  army,  to  share  the  dangers  into  which  they  were 
so  anxious  to  rush  others. 

"About  the  close  of  the  winter  or  beginning  of  the 
spring  of  1863,  two  of  Longstreet's  divisions,  one-fourth  of 
our  army,  were  sent  to  the  south  side  of  James  River  ;  and, 
during  their  absence,  Hooker,  who  had  succeeded  Burnside 
in  the  command,  commenced  the  movement  which  resulted 
in  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  in  the  first  days  of  May. 
Throwing  a  portion  of  his  troops  across  the  river  just  below 
Fredericksburg,  on  the  29th  of  April,  and  making  an  osten 
tatious  demonstration  with  three  corps  on  the  north  bank,  he 
proceeded  to  cross  four  others  above  our  left  flank  to  Chan 
cellorsville.  Having  accomplished  this,  Hooker  issued  a  gas 
conading  order  to  his  troops,  in  which  he  claimed  to  have 
General  Lee's  army  in  his  power,  and  declared  his  purpose 
of  crushing  it.  Leaving  my  division,  one  brigade  of  anoth 
er,  and  a  portion  of  the  reserve  artillery,  in  all  less  than  nine 
thousand  men,  to  confront  the  three  corps  opposite  and  near 
Fredericksbuag,  General  Lee  moved  with  five  divisions  of 
infantry  and  a  portion  of  the  artillery  to  meet  Hooker,  the 
cavalry  being  employed  to  watch  the  flanks.  As  soon  as 
General  Lee  reached  Hooker's  front,  he  determined  to  take 
the  offensive,  and,  by  one  of  his  bold  strategic  movements, 


THE  SOLDIER.  37 

he  sent  Jackson  around  Hooker's  right  flank,  and  that  boast 
ful  commander,  who  was  successively  reenf  orced  by  two  of  the 
corps  left  opposite  Fredericksburg,  was  so  vigorously  assailed 
that  he  was  put  on  the  defensive,  and  soon  compelled  to 
provide  for  the  safety  of  his  own  defeated  army. 

"In  the  mean  time,  Sedgwick,  whose  corps  numbered 
about  twenty-four  thousand  men,  and  who  had  a  division  of 
another  corps  with  him,  making  his  whole  force  about  thirty 
thousand,  had  crossed  the  river,  at  and  below  Fredericksburg, 
with  the  portion  of  his  troops  not  already  over,  and,  by 
concentrating  three  of  his  divisions  on  one  point  of  the  long 
line,  of  five  or  six  miles,  held  by  my  forces,  had  on  the  3d  of 
May,  after  repeated  repulses,  broken  through,  immediately 
in  the  rear  of  Fredericksburg,  where  the  stone-wall  was  held 
by  one  regiment  and  four  companies  of  another,  the  whole 
not  exceeding  five  hundred  men.  General  Lee  was  prepar 
ing  to  renew  the  attack  on  Hooker,  whose  force  at  Chancel- 
lorsville  had  been  driven  back  to  an  interior  line,  when  he 
was  informed  that  Sedgwick  was  moving  up  in  his  rear.  He 
was  then  compelled  to  provide  against  this  new  danger,  and 
he  moved  troops  down  to  arrest  Sedgwick's  progress.  This 
was  successfully  done,  and,  on  the  next  day  (the  4th),  three  of 
the  brigades  of  my  division,  all  of  which  had  been  concentrat 
ed,  and  had  severed  Sedgwick's  connection  with  Fredericks 
burg  and  the  north  bank,  fell  upon  his  left  flank,  and  drove 
it  toward  the  river  in  confusion,  while  other  troops  of  ours, 
which  had  come  from  above,  closed  in  on  him  and  forced  his 
whole  command  into  the  bend  of  the  river.  His  whole  com 
mand  would  now  have  been  destroyed  or  captured,  but  night 
came  on  and  arrested  our  progress.  During  the  night  he 
made  his  escape  over  a  bridge  which  was  laid  down  for  him. 
General  Lee  then  turned  his  attention  again  to  Hooker,  but 
he  also  made  his  escape,  the  next  night,  under  cover  of  a 
storm.  Thus  another  brilliant  victory  was  achieved,  by  the 
genius  and  boldness  of  our  commander,  against  immense  odds. 

"  It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  Hooker  did  not  claim,  on 


28  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

tins  occasion,  that  we  had  the  odds  against  him ;  but,  wiien 
he  went  back,  under  compulsion,  he  issued  an  order,  in  which 
he  stated  that  his  army  had  retired  for  reasons  best  known 
to  itself,  that  it  was  the  custodian  of  its  own  honor  and 
advanced  when  it  pleased,  fousrht  when  it  pleased,  and  re 
tired  when  it  pleased. 

"  In  his  testimony  before  the  committee  on  the  conduct 
of  the  war,  he  made  this  curious  statement : 

"  '  Our  artillery  had  always  been  superior  to  that  of  the 
rebels,  as  was  also  our  infantry,  except  in  discipline ;  and 
that,  for  reasons  not  necessary  to  mention,  never  did  equal 
Lee's  army.  "With  a  rank  and  file  vastly  inferior  to  our 
own,  intellectually  and  physically,  that  army  has,  by  disci 
pline  alone,  acquired  a  character  for  steadiness  and  efficiency 
unsurpassed,  in  my  judgment,  in  ancient  or  modern  times. 
We  have  not  been  able  to  rival  it,  nor  has  there  been  any 
near  approximation  to  it  in  the  other  rebel  armies.' 

"  This  was  the  impression  made  by  that  army,  under  the 
inspiration  of  its  great  leader,  on  '  fighting  Joe,'  as  he  was 
called.  The  impression  made  on  Lincoln,  at  that  time,  may 
be  gathered  from  a  telegram  sent  to  Butterfield,  Hookers 
chief -of -staff,  who  was  on  the  north  of  the  river.  The  tele 
gram  was  sent,  when  Hooker  had  taken  refuge  in  his  new 
works  in  rear  of  Chancellors ville,  and  Sedgwick  was  cut  off 
in  the  bend  of  the  river,  and  is  as  follows,  in  full : 

"'"Where  is  General  Hooker?  Where  is  Sedgwick? 
Where  is  Stoneman  ?  A.  LINCOLN.' 

"  Hooker  had  with  him  what  was  left  of  the  army  of  Burn- 
side,  except  the  Ninth  Corps,  which  had  been  sent  off ;  but 
two  other  corps,  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth,  had  been  added, 
besides  recruits ;  and  his  whole  force  was  largely  over  one 
hundred  thousand  men.  General  Lee's  army,  weakened  by 
the  absence  of  Longstreet's  two  divisions,  was  very  little  if 
any  over  fifty  thousand  men,  inclusive  of  my  force  at  Fred- 
ericksburg. 

"  As  glorious  as  was  this  victory,  it  nevertheless  shed  a 


THE  SOLDIER.  39 

gloom  over  the  whole  army  and  country,  for  in  it  had  fallen 
the  great  Lieutenant  to  whom  General  Lee  had  always  in 
trusted  the  execution  of  his  most  daring  plans,  and  who  had 
proved  himself  so  worthy  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  him. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  stop  here,  to  delineate  the  char 
acter  and  talents  of  General  Jackson.  As  long  as  unselfish 
patriotism,  Christian  devotion  and  purity  of  character,  and 
deeds  of  heroism  shall  command  the  admiration  of  men,  Stone 
wall  Jackson's  name  and  fame  will  be  reverenced.  Of  all 
who  mourned  his  death,  none  felt  more  acutely  the  loss  the 
country  and  the  army  had  sustained  than  General  Lee. 
General  Jackson  had  always  appreciated,  and  sympathized 
with  the  bold  conceptions  of  the  commanding  general  and  en 
tered  upon  their  execution  with  the  most  cheerful  alacrity 
and  zeal.  General  Lee  never  found  it  necessary  to  accompany 
him,  to  see  that  his  plans  were  carried  out,  but  could  always 
trust  him  alone  ;  and  well  might  he  say,  when  Jackson  fell, 
that  he  himself  had  lost  his  <  right  arm.' 

"  After  General  Jackson's  death,  the  army  was  divided 
into  three  corps  of  three  divisions  each,  instead  of  two  corps 
of  four  divisions  each,  the  Ninth  Division  being  formed  by 
taking  two  brigades  from  the  division  of  A.  P.  Hill  and  unit 
ing  them  with  two  others  which  were  brought  from  the  South. 
These  two  brigades  constituted  all  the  reinforcements  to  our 
army,  after  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  and  previous  to  the 
campaign  into  Pennsylvania.  Longstreet's  two  absent  divis 
ions  were  now  brought  back  and  moved  up  toward  Culpepper 
Court-House,  and  General  Lee  entered  on  a  campaign  of  even 
greater  boldness  than  that  of  the  previous  year. 

"  While  Hooker's  army  yet  occupied  the  Stafford  Heights, 
our  army  was  put  in  motion  for  Pennsylvania,  on  the  4th  of 
June,  Hill's  corps  being  left  for  a  while  to  watch  Hooker. 
This  movement  was  undertaken  because  the  interposition  of 
the  Rappahannock,  between  the  two  armies,  presented  an  in 
surmountable  obstacle  to  offensive  operations,  on  our  part, 
against  the  enemy  in  the  position  he  then  occupied,  and  Gen- 


30      REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

eral  Lee  was  determined  not  to  stand  on  the  defensive,  and 
give  the  enemy  time  to  mature  his  plans  and  accumulate  a 
larger  army  for  another  attack  on  him. 

"  The  enemy  was  utterly  bewildered  by  this  new  move 
ment,  and,  while  he  was  endeavoring  to  find  out  what  it  meant, 
the  advance  of  our  army,  E  well's  corps,  composed  of  three  of 
Jackson's  old  divisions,  entered  the  Valley  and  captured,  at 
Winchester  and  Martinsburg,  about  four  thousand  prisoners, 
twenty-nine  pieces  of  artillery,  about  four  thousand  stand  of 
small-arms,  a  large  wagon-train,  and  many  stores.  It  then 
crossed  the  Potomac,  and  two  divisions  went  to  Carlisle,  while 
another  went  to  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna,  through  York. 
The  two  other  corps  soon  followed,  and  this  movement 
brought  the  whole  of  Hooker's  army  across  the  Potomac  in 
pursuit.  The  two  armies  concentrated,  and  encountered 
each  other  at  Gettysburg,  east  of  the  South  Mountain,  in  a 
battle  extending  through  three  days,  from  the  1st  to  the  3d 
of  July,  inclusive.  On  the  first  day,  a  portion  of  our  army, 
composed  of  two  divisions  of  Hill's  corps,  and  two  divisions 
of  Ewell's  corps,  gained  a  very  decided  victory  over  two  of 
the  enemy's  corps,  wrhich  latter  were  driven  back,  in  great 
confusion,  through  Gettysburg,  to  the  heights,  immediately 
south  and  east  of  the  town,  known  as  Cemetery  Hill.  On  the 
second  and  third  days,  we  assaulted  the  enemy's  position  at 
different  points,  but  failed  to  dislodge  his  army,  now  under 
Meade,  from  its  very  strong  position  on  Cemetery  and  the  ad 
jacent  hills.  Both  sides  suffered  very  heavy  losses,  that  of 
the  enemy  exceeding  ours. 

"  Our  ammunition  had  drawn  short,  and  we  were  beyond 
the  reach  of  any  supplies  of  that  kind.  General  Lee  there 
fore  desisted  from  his  efforts  to  carry  the  position,  and,  after 
straightening  his  line,  he  confronted  Meade  for  a  whole  day, 
without  the  latter's  daring  to  move  from  his  position,  and 
then  retired  toward  the  Potomac,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
within  reach  of  supplies.  "We  halted  near  Hagerstown,  Mary 
land,  and  when  Meade,  who  had  followed  us  very  cautiously. 


THE   SOLDIER.  31 

arrived,  battle  was  offered  him,  but  lie  went  to  fortifying  in 
our  front.  We  confronted  him  for  several  days,  but,  as  he 
did  not  venture  to  attack  us,  and  heavy  rains  had  set  in,  we 
retired  across  the  Potomac  to  avoid  having  an  impassable 
river  in  our  rear. 

"The  campaign  into  Pennsylvania  and  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg  have  been  much  criticised,  and  but  little  under 
stood.  The  magnanimity  of  General  Lee  caused  him  to 
withhold  from  the  public  the  true  causes  of  the  failure  to 
gain  a  decisive  victory  at  Gettysburg.  Many  writers  have 
racked  their  brains  to  account  for  that  failure.  Some  have 
attributed  it  to  the  fact  that  the  advantage  gained  on  the 
first  day  was  not  pressed  immediately ;  and  among  them  is  a 
Northern  historian  of  the  war  (Swinton),  who  says  :  '  Ewell 
was  even  advancing  a  line  against  Gulp's  Hill  when  Lee 
reached  the  field  and  stayed  the  movement.'  There  is  no 
foundation  for  this  statement.  When  General  Lee,  after  the 
engagement,  reached  the  part  of  the  field  where  Swell's 
command  had  fought,  it  w^as  near  dark,  and  no  forward 
movement  was  in  progress  or  contemplated.  Two  fresh 
corps  of  the  enemy,  Slocum's  and  Sickles's,  had  arrived  at 
five  o'clock,  at  least  two  hours  before  General  Lee  came  to 
us  after  the  engagement.  There  was  a  time,  as  we  know 
now,  immediately  after  the  enemy  was  driven  back,  when,  if 
we  had  advanced  vigorously,  the  heights  of  Gettysburg 
would  probably  have  been  taken,  but  that  was  not  then  ap 
parent.  I  was  in  favor  of  the  advance,  but  I  think  it 
doubtful  whether  it  would  have  resulted  in  any  greater  ad 
vantage  than  to  throw  back  the  two  routed  corps  on  the 
main  body  of  their  army,  and  cause  the  great  battle  to  be 
fought  on  other  ground.  Meade  had  already  selected  an 
other  position,  on  Pipe  Clay  Creek,  where  he  would  have 
concentrated  his  army,  and  we  would  have  been  compelled 
to  give  him  battle  or  retire.  Moreover,  it  is  not  impossible 
that  the  arrival  of  the  two  fresh  corps  may  have  turned  the 
fate  of  the  day  against  the  troops  we  then  had  on  the  field, 


32  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

had  we  pressed  our  advantage.     General  Lee  had  ordered 
the  concentration  of  his  army  at  Cashtown,  and  the  battle  on 
this  day,  brought  on  by  the  advance  of  the  enemy's  cavalry, 
was  unexpected  to  him.     When  he  ascertained  the  advan 
tage  that  had  been  gained,  he  determined  to  press  it  as  soon 
as  the  remainder  of  his  army  arrived.     In  a  conference  with 
General  Ewell,  General  Ehodes  and  myself,  when  he  did 
reach  us,  after  the  enemy  had  been  routed,  he  expressed  his 
determination  to  assault  the  enemy's  position  at  daylight  on 
the  next  morning,  and  wished  to  know  whether  we  could 
make  the  attack  from  our  flank — the  left — at  the  designated 
time.     We  informed  him  of  the  fact  that  the  ground  imme 
diately  in  our  front,  leading  to  the  enemy's  position,  fur 
nished  much  greater  obstacles  to  a  successful  assault  than  ex 
isted  at  any  other  point,  and  we  concurred  in  suggesting  to 
him  that,  as  our  corps  (E well's)  constituted  the  only  troops 
then  immediately  confronting  the  enemy,  he  would  mani 
festly  concentrate  and  fortify  against  us,  during  the  night,  as 
proved  to  be   the  case,  according   to   subsequent   informa 
tion.     He  then  determined  to  make  the  attack  from  our 
right  on  the  enemy's  left,  and  left  us  for  the  purpose  of 
ordering  up  Longstreet's  corps  in  time  to  begin  the  attack  at 
dawn  next  morning.     That  corps  was  not  in  readiness  to 
make  the  attack  until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
next  day.     By  that  time,  Meade's  whole  army  had  arrived  on 
the  field  and  taken  its  position.     Had  the  attack  been  made 
at  daylight,  as  contemplated,  it  must   have  resulted   in  a 
brilliant  and  decisive  victory,  as  all  of  Meade's  army  had  not 
then  arrived,  and  a  very  small  portion  of  it  was  in  position. 
A  considerable  portion  of  his  army  did  not  get  up  until 
after  sunrise,  one  corps  not  arriving  until  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and  a  prompt  advance  to  the  attack  must  have 
resulted  in  his  defeat  in  detail.     The  position  which  Long- 
street  attacked  at  four  was  not  occupied  by  the  enemy  until 
late  in  the  afternoon,  and  Round  Top  Hill,  which  commanded 
the  enemy's  position,  could  have  been  taken  in  the  morn- 


THE   SOLDIER.  33 

ing  without  a  struggle.  The  attack  was  made  by  two  di 
visions,  and,  though  the  usual  gallantry  was  displayed  by 
the  troops  engaged  in  it,  no  very  material  advantage  was 
gained.  "When  General  Lee  saw  his  plans  thwarted  by  the 
delay  on  our  right,  he  ordered  an  attack  to  be  made  also 
from  our  left,  to  be  begun  by  Johnson's  division  on  Gulp's 
Hill,  and  followed  up  by  the  rest  of  Ewell's  corps,  and 
also  by  Hill's.  This  attack  was  begun  with  great  vigor 
by  Johnson,  and  two  of  my  brigades,  immediately  on  his 
right,  which  were  the  only  portion  of  the  division  then 
available,  as  the  other  two  brigades  had  been  sent  off  to  the 
left  to  watch  the  York  road,  moved  forward  promptly, 
climbed  the  heights  on  the  left  of  Gettysburg,  over  stone 
and  plank  fences,  reached  the  summit  of  Cemetery  Hill, 
and  got  possession  of  the  enemy's  works,  and  his  batteries 
there  posted.  One  of  my  other  brigades  had  been  sent  for, 
and  got  back  in  time  to  be  ready  to  act  as  a  support  to 
those  in  front :  but,  though  Johnson  was  making  good  prog 
ress  in  his  attack,  there  was  no  movement  on  my  right,  and 
the  enemy,  not  being  pressed  in  that  direction,  concentrated 
on  my  two  brigades  in  such  overwhelming  force  as  to  render 
it  necessary  for  them  to  retire.  Thus,  after  having  victory 
in  their  grasp,  they  were  compelled  to  relinquish  it,  because 
General  Lee's  orders  had  again  failed  to  be  carried  out ;  but 
one  of  those  brigades  brought  off  four  captured  battle-flags 
from  the  top  of  Cemetery  Hill.  This  affair  occurred  just  a 
little  before  dark. 

"  On  the  next  day,  when  the  assault  was  made  by  Pick- 
ett's  division  in  such  gallant  style,  there  was  again  a  miscar 
riage,  in  not  properly  supporting  it  according  to  the  plan  and 
orders  of  the  commanding  general.  You  must  recollect  that 
a  commanding  general  cannot  do  the  actual  marching  and 
fighting  of  his  army.  These  must,  necessarily,  be  intrusted 
to  his  subordinates,  and  any  hesitation,  delay,  or  miscar 
riage  in  the  execution  of  his  orders,  may  defeat  the  best-de 
vised  schemes.  Contending  against  such  odds  as  we  did,  it 
8 


34  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

was  necessary,  always,  that  there  should  be  the  utmost  dis 
patch,  energy,  and  undoubting  confidence,  in  carrying  out  the 
plans  of  the  commanding  general.  A  subordinate  who  un 
dertakes  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  his  superior's  plans,  and 
enters  upon  their  execution  with  reluctance  and  distrust,  will 
not  be  likely  to  insure  success.  It  was  General  Jackson's 
unhesitating  confidence  and  faith  in  the  chances  of  success 
that  caused  it  so  often  to  perch  on  his  banners,  and  made 
him  such  an  invaluable  executor  of  General  Lee's  plans.  If 
Mr.  Swinton  has  told  the  truth,  in  repeating  in  his  book 
what  is  alleged  to  have  been  said  to  him  by  General  Long- 
street,  there  was  at  least  one  of  General  Lee's  corps  com 
manders  at  Gettysburg  who  did  not  enter  upon  the  execu 
tion  of  his  plans  with  that  confidence  and  faith  necessary  to 
success,  and  hence,  perhaps,  it  was  that  it  was  not  achieved. 
Some  have  thought  that  General  Lee  did  wrong  in  fight 
ing  at  Gettysburg,  and  it  has  been  said  that  he  ought  to 
have  moved  around  Meade's  left,  so  as  to  get  between  him 
and  Washington.  It  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  criticise  and 
prophesy  after  events  happen  ;  but  it  would  have  been  mani 
festly  a  most  dangerous  movement  for  him  to  have  under 
taken  to  pass  Meade  by  the  flank  with  all  his  trains.  In 
passing  through  the  narrow  space  between  Gettysburg  and 
the  South  Mountain,  we  would  have  been  exposed  to  an  at 
tack  under  very  disadvantageous  circumstances.  I  then 
thought,  and  still  think,  that  it  was  right  to  fight  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg,  and  I  am  firmly  convinced  that,  if  General 
Lee's  plans  had  been  carried  out  in  the  spirit  in  which  they 
were  conceived,  a  decisive  victory  would  have  been  obtained, 
which  perhaps  would  have  secured  our  independence.  Our 
army  was  never  in  better  heart,  and,  when  it  did  retire,  it  was 
with  no  sense  of  defeat.  My  division  brought  up  the  rear 
of  the  army,  and  it  did  not  leave  the  sight  of  the  enemy's 
position  until  the  afternoon  of  the  5th.  One  of  Meade's 
corps  followed  us  most  cautiously,  at  a  respectful  distance, 
and  when,  at  Fairfield,  near  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  I 


THE   SOLDIER.  35 

formed  line  of  battle  to  await  it,  no  advance  was  made. 
There  were  none  of  the  indications  of  defeat  in  the  rear  of 
the  army  on  the  march,  and,  when  we  took  position  near 
Ilagerstown  to  await  Meade's  attack,  it  was  with  entire  con 
fidence  in  our  ability  to  meet  it  with  success. 

"Meade's  army  at  Gettysburg  numbered  at  least  one 
hundred  thousand  men  in  position.  The  whole  force  in  the 
Department  of  Northern  Virginia,  at  the  close  of  May,  four 
days  before  our  movement  north  began,  was  sixty-eight 
-thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-two.  No  reinforcements 
were  received  after  that  time,  and,  of  course,  the  whole  force 
was  not  carried  out  of  Virginia.  General  Lee's  army  at 
Gettysburg  numbered  considerably  less  than  sixty  thousand 
men  of  all  arms. 

"  This  campaign  did  not  accomplish  all  that  we  desired, 
but,  nevertheless,  it  was  not  unattended  with  great  and 
advantageous  results.  It  certainly  had  the  effect  of  deferring, 
for  one  year  at  least,  the  advance  on  the  Confederate  capital, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  fall  of  Vicksburg-  at  the  same 
time,  and  the  consequent  severance  of  all  the  States  beyond 
the  Mississippi  from  the  Confederacy,  for  all  practical  pur 
poses,  the  public  would  not  have  taken  as  gloomy  a  view  of 
the  results  of  the  campaign  as  it  did. 

"So  far  from  our  army  being  defeated  or  broken  in  spirit, 
when  the  invading  army  of  the  enemy  again  advanced  into 
Virginia,  General  Lee  intercepted  it,  and,  taking  position  on 
the  south  bank  of  the  Rapidan,  effectually  prevented  any 
further  advance  until  May,  1864,  when,  as  I  will  show  you, 
the  power  of  the  Confederacy  had  been  so  crippled  in  other 
quarters  as  to  allow  an  unusual  accumulation  of  men  and 
resources  against  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

"  You  must  understand  that  the  line  of  the  Rappahannock 
and  the  Rapidan  was  the  only  practicable  line  of  defense  in 
Northern  Virginia,  because  the  possession  and  control  of  the 
Potomac  and  Chesapeake  Bay,  which  the  enemy's  monitors 
and  iron-clads  gave  him,  without  let  or  hinderance,  would 


36  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

enable  him  to  flank  and  turn  any  line  of  defense  which 
might  be  assumed  north  of  those  rivers.  Beyond  that  line 
General  Lee,  in  1862,  had  diiven  the  invading  ariny,  and 
there  he  had  retained  it  up  to  the  time  of  which  I  am  speak 
ing.  This  was  all  that  a  defensive  policy  could  accomplish, 
and  it  was  onty  when  he  assumed  the  offensive,  as  in  the 
campaigns  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  that  the  enemy 
could  be  hurled  back  on  his  own  border,  in  order  to  defend 
his  territory  and  capital.  The  results  of  the  campaign  into 
Pennsylvania  left  General  Lee  in  possession  of  his  legitimate 
line  of  defense,  with  the  enemy's  plans  all  thwarted  for  that 
year.  In  fact,  so  satisfied  was  the  latter  of  his  inability  to 
accomplish  any  thing,  by  an  attempt  to  advance  on  Kichmond, 
that  two  of  Meade's  corps  were  detached  for  the  purpose  of 
reenforcing  Rosecrans  at  Chattanooga,  and  General  Lee  held 
his  own  line  by  such  a  certain  tenure  that  he  was  able  to 
detach  Longstreet's  corps,  and  send  two  divisions  to  Bragg, 
and  one,  first  to  the  south  side  of  James  River,  and  then  to 
North  Carolina.  After  Longstreet  had  gone,  occurred  the 
movement  which  caused  Meade  to  retire  to  Centreville,  and 
about  the  last  of  November  he  crossed  the  Rapidan  and 
moved  to  Mine  Run,  but  retired  just  in  time  to  avoid  an 
attack  which  General  Lee  had  prepared  to  make  on  his  flank. 
"  At  the  close  of  the  year  1863  the  enemy  was  no  farther 
advanced  in  his  oft-repeated  effort  to  capture  the  Confederate 
capital,  than  when  Manassas  was  evacuated,  early  in  the 
spring  of  1862  ;  but,  in  the  Southwest,  the  fall  of  Yicksburg, 
the  disaster  of  Missionary  Ridge,  and  the  failure  of  the  cam 
paign  in  Eastern  Tennessee,  had  not  only  severed  the  trans- 
Mississippi  region  from  the  remainder  of  the  Confederacy, 
but  had  left  all  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  firmly  in  the  powei 
of  the  enemy,  and  rendered  all  the  lower  basin  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  practically  useless  to  us.  The  main  army  of  the  West 
had  been  compelled  to  retire  to  Dalton,  in  the  northwestern 
corner  of  Georgia,  and,  for  all  useful  purposes,  the  Confeder 
acy  was  confined  to  Georgia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 


THE  SOLDIER.  37 

the  portion  of  Virginia  held  by  us.  It  is  true  that  we  held 
posts  and  had  troops  in  Alabama,  Florida,  and  Mississippi, 
but  they  could  contribute  nothing  to  the  general  defense, 
and  the  resources  of  those  States  were  substantially  lost  to 
us,  at  least  so  far  as  operations  in  Virginia  were  concerned. 
This  state  of  things  left  the  enemy  at  liberty  to  concentrate 
his  resources  against  the  two  principal  armies  of  the  Con 
federacy.  Grant  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  all  the 
armies  of  the  enemy  in  the  spring  of  1864,  and  took  his 
position  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  the  field,  while 
Sherman  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  army  at  Chat 
tanooga,  which  was  to  operate  against  ours  at  Dalton. 

"  By  the  1st  of  May  Grant  had  accumulated  an  army  of 
more  than  one  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  men  on  the 
north  of  the  Rapidan;  and  General  Lee's  army  on  the 
south  bank,  including  two  of  Longstreet's  divisions,  which 
had  returned  from  Tennessee,  was  under  fifty  thousand  men 
of  all  arms. 

"  Grant's  theory  was  to  accumulate  the  largest  numbers 
practicable  against  us,  so  as,  by  constant  '  hammering, '  to 
destroy  our  army  'by  mere  attrition  if  in  no  other  way.5 
Besides  the  army  under  Grant,  in  Culpepper,  there  were  near 
fifty  thousand  men  in  Washington  and  Baltimore,  and  the 
military  control  of  the  railroads  and  the  telegraph,  as  well  as 
an  immense  number  of  steam  transports,  rendered  it  an  easy 
matter  to  reenforce  him  indefinitely. 

"On  the  4th  of  May  he  crossed  the  Eapidan  on  our 
right  to  the  Wilderness,  to  get  between  us  and  Richmond. 
General  Lee  advanced  promptly  to  attack  him  and  thwart 
his  purpose ;  and  then  ensued  that  most  wonderful  cam 
paign  from  the  Rapidan  to  the  James,  in  which  the  ever- 
glorious  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  grappled  its  gigantic 
antagonist  in  a  death-struggle,  which  continued  until  the  lat 
ter  was  thrown  off,  crippled  and  bleeding,  to  the  cover  oi 
the  James  and  Appomattox  Rivers,  where  it  was  enabled  to 
recruit  and  renew  its  strength  for  another  effort. 


38  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"Two  days  of  fierce  battle  were  had  in  the  Wilderness, 
and  our  little  army  never  struck  more  rapid  and  vigorous 
blows.  Grant  was  compelled  to  move  off  from  our  front, 
and  attempt  to  accomplish  his  purpose  by  another  flank- 
movement,  but  General  Lee  promptly  intercepted  him  at 
Spottsylvania  Court-House ;  where  again  occurred  a  series  of 
desperate  engagements,  in  which,  though  a  portion  of  our 
line  was  temporarily  broken,  and  we  sustained  a  loss  which 
we  could  ill  afford,  yet  Grant's  army  was  so  crippled  that  it 
was  unable  to  resume  the  offensive  until  it  had  been  re- 
enforced  from  Washington  and  Baltimore  to  the  full  extent 
of  forty  thousand  men.  But  General  Lee  received  no  re- 
enforcements  ;  and  yet  Grant,  after  waiting  six  days  for  his, 
when  they  did  arrive,  was  again  compelled  to  move  off  from  us, 
and  attempt  another  flank-movement,  under  cover  of  the  net 
work  of  difficult  water-courses  around  and  east  of  Spottsyl 
vania  Court-House.  ]S"ever  had  the  wonderful  powers  of 
our  great  chief,  and  the  unflinching  courage  of  his  small 
army,  been  more  conspicuously  displayed  than  during  the 
thirteen  days  at  this  place.  One  of  his  three  corps  command 
ers  had  been  disabled  by  wounds  at  the  "Wilderness,  and 
another  was  too  sick  to  command  his  corps,  while  he  himself 
was  suffering  from  a  most  annoying  and  weakening  disease. 
In  fact,  nothing  but  his  own  determined  will  enabled  him  to 
keep  the  field  at  all ;  and  it  was  there  rendered  more  mani 
fest  than  ever  that  he  was  the  head  and  front,  the  very  life 
and  soul,  of  his  army.  Grant's  new  movement  was  again  in 
tercepted  at  Hanover  Junction,  and  from  that  point  he  was 
compelled  to  retire  behind  the  North  Anna  and  Pamunkey, 
to  escape  his  tenacious  adversary  by  another  manoeuvre.  He 
was  again  intercepted  at  Pole  Green  Church;  and  at  Be 
thesda  Church,  and  on  the  historic  field  of  Cold  Harbor,  oc 
curred  another  series  of  most  bloody  battles,  in  which  such 
carnage  was  inflicted  on  Grant's  army  that,  when  orders 
were  given  for  a  new  assault,  his  troops  in  sullen  silence  de 
clined  to  move  ;  and  he  was  compelled  to  ask  for  a  truce  tc 


THE  SOLDIER.  39 

bury  his  dead.  Though  largely  reenforced  from  Butler's 
army,  Grant  was  now  compelled  to  take  refuge  on  the  south 
side  of  James  River,  at  a  point  to  which  he  could  have  gone, 
by  water,  from  his  camps  in  Culpepper,  without  the  loss  of  a 
man.  His  original  plan  of  the  campaign  was  thus  complete 
ly  thwarted,  and  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  attempt  to 
take  Richmond  by  the  land-route,  after  a  loss  in  battle  of 
more  men  than  were  in  General  Lee's  whole  army,  including 
the  reinforcements  received  at  Hanover  Junction  and  Cold 
Harbor,  which  latter  consisted  of  two  divisions,  a  brigade, 
and  less  than  three  thousand  men  under  Breckenridge,  from 
the  Valley.  When  we  consider  the  disparity  of  the  forces 
engaged  in  this  campaign,  the  advantages  of  the  enemy  for 
reenforcing  his  army,  and  the  time  consumed  in  actual  bat 
tle,  it  must  rank  as  the  most  remarkable  campaign  of  ancient 
or  modern  times.  We  may  read  of  great  victories,  settling 
the  fate  of  nations,  gained  by  small  armies  of  compact,  well- 
trained,  and  thoroughly-disciplined  troops,  over  immense  and 
unwieldy  hordes  of  untrained  barbarians,  or  of  demoralized 
soldiers,  sunk  in  effeminacy  and  luxury  ;  but  where  shall  we 
find  the  history  of  such  a  prolonged  struggle,  in  which  such 
enormous  advantages  of  numbers,  equipments,  resources  and 
supplies,  were  on  the  side  of  the  defeated  party  ?  The  prox 
imity  of  a  number  of  water-courses,  navigable  for  steam-ves 
sels,  and  patrolled  by  Federal  gunboats,  had  enabled  Grant  to 
keep  open  his  communications  with  the  sources  of  his  sup 
plies,  and  to  receive  constant  accessions  of  troops,  so  that  it 
was  impossible  to  destroy  his  army ;  but,  if  the  contest,  as  in 
most  campaigns  of  former  times,  had  been  confined  to  two 
armies,  originally  engaged  in  it,  there  can  be  no  question  but 
that  Grant's  would  have  been,  in  effect,  destroyed.  As  it 
was,  his  whole  movement,  after  the  first  encounter  in  the 
Wilderness,  was  but  a  retreat  by  the  flank,  the  Potomac,  the 
Rappahannock,  the  York  and  Pamunkey,  and  the  James,  in 
succession,  furnishing  him  a  new  base  to  retire  on,  for  the  re 
ceipt  of  supplies  and  reenforcements,  and  the  resumption  of 


4:0  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

operations.  The  boldness  and  fertility  of  the  strategy  em 
ployed  by  our  glorious  chieftain,  during  this  campaign,  were 
indeed  marvelous ;  and  such  was  the  disparity  of  numbers 
that  it  appears  like  romance,  and  men  are  disposed  to  turn 
an  incredulous  ear  when  the  truth  is  told.  In  fact,  General 
Lee  himself  was  aware  of  the  apparent  improbability  which 
a  true  statement  of  the  facts  would  present,  and  in  a  letter  to 
me,  during  the  winter  of  186 5-' 6 6,  he  said  : 

"  '  It  will  be  difficult  to  get  the  world  to  understand  the 
odds  against  which  we  fought.' 

"  Notwithstanding  the  disparity  which  existed,  he  was 
anxious,  as  I  know,  to  avail  himself  of  every  opportunity  to 
strike  an  offensive  blow ;  and,  just  as  Grant  was  preparing  to 
move  across  James  River  with  his  defeated  and  dispirited 
army,  General  Lee  was  maturing  his  plans  for  taking  the  of 
fensive;  and,  in  stating  his  desire  for  me  to  take  the  initia 
tive  with  the  corps  I  then  commanded,  he  said  : 

"  '  We  must  destroy  this  army  of  Grant's  before  he  gets 
to  James  River.  If  he  gets  there,  it  will  become  a  siege,  and 
then  it  will  be  a  mere  question  of  time.' 

"  He  knew  well  that,  with  the  army  Grant  then  had,  he 
could  not  take  Richmond,  but  he  also  knew  that,  if  that  army 
could  be  placed  on  the  south  of  the  James  and  east  of  the 
Appomattox,  where  it  would  be  out  of  the  reach  of  ours  for 
offensive  operations,  it  could  be  reenf orced  indefinitely,  until, 
by  the  process  of  attrition,  the  exhaustion  of  our  resources, 
and  the  employment  of  mechanism  and  the  improved  engines 
of  war  against  them,  the  brave  defenders  of  our  cause  would 
gradually  melt  away.  In  fact,  he  knew  that  it  would  then 
become  a  contest  between  mechanical  power  and  physical 
strength,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  gradually  diminishing 
nerve  and  sinew  of  Confederate  soldiers  on  the  other,  until 
the  unlimited  resources  of  our  enemies  must  finally  prevail 
over  all  the  genius  and  chivalric  daring  which  had  so  long 
baffled  their  mighty  efforts  in  the  field.  It  was  from  such 
considerations  as  these  that  he  had  made  his  great  and  sue- 


THE   SOLDIER.  41 

cessf ul  effort  to  raise  the  siege  in  1862 ;  his  subsequent  cam 
paign  into  Maryland ;  and  his  campaign  into  Pennsylvania 
in  1863. 

"  Before  the  contemplated  blow  against  Grant  was  struck, 
the  startling  intelligence  of  Hunter's  operations  in  the  Valley 
was  received,  and  it  became  necessary  to  detach,  first  Breck- 
enridge's  command,  and  then  my  corps,  to  meet  the  new  dan 
ger  threatening  all  of  our  communications. 

"  This  enabled  Grant  to  reach  his  new  position  unmolested, 
the  movement  toward  which  began  on  the  night  I  received 
my  orders  to  move  by  three  o'clock  next  morning  for  the 
Valley.  Finding  it  necessary  to  detach  my  command  on  a 
work  of  pressing  urgency,  General  Lee  determined  to  com 
bine  with  the  movement  a  daring  expedition  across  the  Poto 
mac,  to  threaten  the  enemy's  country  and  capital ;  about  the 
conduct  and  results  of  which  I  will  merely  say  that  there 
has  been  much  misunderstanding  and  ignorant  misrepresen 
tation.  After  reaching  the  south  bank  of  the  James,  Grant 
made  a  dash  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  Petersburg,  which 
was  thwarted  by  the  good  soldier  who  had  already  baffled 
and  defeated  Butler.  The  enemy,  now  having  found  it  im 
possible  to  capture  the  Confederate  capital  in  a  campaign  by 
land,  resorted  to  a  combined  operation  of  his  army  and  navy, 
by  the  way  of  the  James.  The  condition  of  things  in  the 
South  and  Southwest  enabled  him  to  still  further  strengthen 
Grant's  army  after  its  junction  with  Butler's ;  and  the  fall 
of  Atlanta,  in  September,  severed  the  greater  part  of  Georgia 
practically  from  the  Confederacy.  There  were  no  means  of  re 
cruiting  General  Lee's  army,  to  any  considerable  extent,  after 
its  union  with  Beauregard's  small  force,  which,  with  the  di 
vision  and  brigade  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virgina  returned 
at  Hanover  Junction,  and  the  division  received  at  Cold  Har 
bor,  did  not  reach  twenty  thousand  men,  while  my  corps  had 
been  detached.  For  nine  long  months  was  the  unequal  con 
test  protracted  by  the  genius  of  one  man,  aided  by  the  valor 
of  his  little  force,  occupying  a  line  of  more  than  thirty  miles, 


42  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

with  scarcely  more  than  a  respectable  skirmish-line.  During 
this  time,  there  were  many  daring  achievements  and  heroic 
deeds  performed  by  the  constantly-diminishing  survivors  of 
those  who  had  rendered  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  so 
illustrious  ;  but,  finally,  constant  attrition  and  lingering  starv 
ation  did  their  work.  General  Lee  had  been  unable  to  attack 
Grant  in  his  stronghold,  south  of  the  James  and  east  of  the  Ap- 
pomattox,  where  alone  such  a  movement  was  practicable,  be 
cause  a  concentration  for  that  purpose,  on  the  east  of  the  lat 
ter  river,  would  have  left  the  way  to  Richmond  open  to  the 
enemy.  When,  by  the  unsuccessful  expedition  into  Tennes 
see,  the  march  of  Sherman  through  the  centre  of  Georgia  to 
the  Atlantic,  his  subsequent  expedition  north  through  South 
Carolina  into  North  Carolina,  and  the  consequent  fall  of 
Charleston  and  Wilmington,  the  Confederacy  had  been  prac 
tically  reduced  to  Richmond  City,  the  remnant  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  and  the  very  narrow  slips  of  country  bor 
dering  on  the  three  railroads  and  the  canal  running  out  of 
that  city  into  the  Valley,  Southwestern  Virginia,  and  North 
Carolina,  the  struggle  in  Virginia,  maintained  so  long  by  the 
consummate  ability  of  our  leader,  began  to  draw  to  a  close. 
To  add  to  his  embarrassments,  he  had  been  compelled  to  detach 
a  large  portion  of  his  cavalry  to  the  aid  of  the  troops  falling 
back  before  Sherman  in  his  march  northward,  and  a  portion 
of  his  infantry  to  the  defense  of  Wilmington ;  and  at  the 
close  of  March,  1865,  Sherman  had  approached  as  far  north 
as  Goldsborough,  North  Carolina,  on  his  movement  to  unite 
with  Grant. 

"  It  was  not  till  then  that  Grant,  to  whose  aid  an  immense 
force  of  superbly-equipped  cavalry  had  swept  down  from  the 
Valley,  was  able  to  turn  General  Lee's  flank  and  break  his  at 
tenuated  line.  The  retreat  from  the  lines  of  Richmond  and 
Petersburg  began  in  the  early  days  of  April,  and  the  remnant 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  fell  back  for  more  than  one 
hundred  miles,  before  its  overpowering  antagonist,  repeatedly 
presenting  front  to  the  latter,  and  giving  battle  so  as  to  check 


THE  SOLDIER.  43 

its  progress.  Finally,  from  mere  exhaustion,  less  than  eight 
thousand  men,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  of  the  noblest  army 
that  had  ever  fought  '  in  the  tide  of  times,'  were  surrendered 
at  Appomattox  to  an  army  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
men ;  the  sword  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  without  a  blemish  on  it, 
was  sheathed  forever ;  and  the  flag,  to  which  he  had  added 
such  lustre,  was  furled,  to  be  henceforth  embalmed  in  the 
affectionate  remembrance  of  those  who  had  remained  faithful 
during  all  our  trials,  and  will  do  so  to  the  end. 

"  Who  is  it  that  stands  out  the  grandest  figure  in  that  last 
sad  scene  of  the  drama  ?  Is  it  the  victor  ?  Yictor  over  what  ? 
Can  it  be  possible  that  any  adherent  to  the  cause  of  our 
enemies  can  recur  to  that  scene  at  Appomattox  Court-House 
without  blushing  ?  On  that  occasion,  the  vast  superiority  of 
the  Confederate  commander  over  his  antagonist,  in  all  the 
qualities  of  a  great  captain,  and  of  the  Confederate  soldier 
over  the  Northern,  was  made  most  manifest  to  the  dullest 
comprehension  ;  and  none  were  made  more  sensible  of  it  than 
our  adversaries.  General  Lee  had  not  been  conquered  in  bat 
tle,  but  surrendered  because  he  had  no  longer  an  army  with 
which  to  give  battle.  "What  he  surrendered  was  the  skeleton, 
the  mere  ghost  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virgin  a,  which  had 
been  gradually  worn  down  by  the  combined  agencies  of  num 
bers,  steam-power,  railroads,  mechanism,  and  all  the  resources 
of  physical  science.  It  had,  in  fact,  been  engaged  in  a  strug 
gle,  not  only  against  the  mere  brute  power  of  man,  but 
against  all  the  elements  of  fire,  air,  earth,  and  water ;  and 
even  that  all-pervading  and  subtile  fluid,  whose  visible  demon 
strations  the  ancients  designated  ( the  thunder-bolt  of  the 
gods,5  had  been  led  submissive  in  the  path  of  the  opposing 
army,  so  as  to  concentrate  with  rapidity  and  make  available 
all  the  other  agencies. 

"  It  was  .by  the  use  of  these  new  adjuncts  to  the  science 
of  war,  that  McClellan  and  Pope  had  escaped  destruction  in 
1862;  the  Federal  capital  been  saved,  after  the  terrible  chas 
tisement  inflicted  on  their  armies ;  Pennsylvania  also  saved 


ii  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

in  1863,  and  Meade  enabled  to  fight  a  drawn  battle  at  Gettys 
burg  ;  Grant's  arm j  preserved  from  annihilation  in  1864,  and 
enabled  to  reach  the  welcome  shelter  of  the  James  and  Appo- 
mattox  ;  and  now,  they  had  finally  produced  that  exhaustion 
of  our  army  and  resources,  and  that  accumulation  of  numbers 
on  the  other  side,  which  wrought  the  final  disaster. 

"  When  we  come  to  estimate  General  Lee's  achievements 
and  abilities  as  a  military  commander,  all  these  things  must 
be  taken  into  consideration. 

"  I  have  now  given  you  a  condensed  sketch  of  General 
Lee's  military  career,  and  I  am  aware  that  what  I  have  said 
falls  short  of  the  real  merits  of  the  subject.  My  estimates  of 
the  enemy's  strength  are  taken  from  their  own  reports  and 
statements.  In  the  last  interview  I  had  with  General  Lee, 
since  my  return  to  the  country,  I  mentioned  to  him  my  esti 
mates  of  his  strength  at  various  times,  and  he  said  that  they 
fully  covered  his  force  at  all  times,  and  in  some  instances 
were  in  excess.  They  are  those  I  have  now  given  you. 

"  From  the  facts  I  have  presented,  I  think  you  will  have 
no  difficulty  in  discerning  that  the  fall  of  Richmond,  and  the 
surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  were  the  conse 
quences  of  events  in  the  West  and  Southwest,  and  not  direct 
ly  of  the  operations  in  Virginia.  I  say  this,  without  intend 
ing  to  cast  any  reproach,  directly  or  by  implication,  on  the 
commanders  or  the  rank  and  file  of  our  armies  operating  in 
those  quarters.  For  them  I  have  a  profound  respect  and 
admiration,  and  I  am  ever  ready  to  receive  and  acknowledge 
them  as  worthy  coadjutors  and  comrades  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia.  They  had,  also,  the  disadvantage  of 
overwhelming  numbers,  and  the  other  agencies  I  have  men 
tioned,  to  contend  against,  and  a  truthful  history  of  their 
deeds  Vill  confer  upon  them  imperishable  renown.  I  do  not 
feel  that  it  is  necessary  or  just  to  attempt  to  build  up  the 
reputation  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  or  its  com 
mander,  at  the  expense  of  our  comrades  who  battled  so 
gloriously  and  vigorously  on  other  fields  for  the  same  just 


THE  SOLDIER.  45 

and  holy  cause.  What  I  have  said  is  not  mentioned  with 
any  such  purpose,  but  simply  to  note  what.  I  conceive  to  be 
an  apparent  and  indisputable  historic  fact,  that  ought  not  to 
be  overlooked  in  a  review  of  General  Lee's  military  record. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  war,  the  deportment  and  conduct  of 
our  noble  and  honored  leader  were  worthy  of  his  previous 
history ;  and  in  that  dignified  and  useful  retirement  to  which 
he  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  days,  in  your  midst,  the  true 
grandeur  of  his  soul  shone  out  as  conspicuously  as  had  his 
transcendent  military  genius  in  his  campaigns ;  but  I  leave 
the  duty  of  illustrating  that  to  others. 

"  There  have  been  efforts  to  draw  parallels  between  our 
illustrious  chief  and  some  of  the  renowned  commanders  of 
former  times,  but  these  efforts  have  always  proved  unsatis 
factory  to  me. 

"  Where  shall  we  turn  to  find  the  peer  of  our  great  and 
pure  soldier  and  hero?  Certainly,  we  shall  not  find  one 
among  the  mythic  heroes  of  Homer,  the  wrath  of  the  chief 

of  whom  was — 

' .  .  .  .to  Greece  the  direful  spring 
Of  woes  unnumbered  .  .  .  .  ' 

u!Nor  shall  we  find  one  among  the  Grecian  commanders 
of  a  later  period,  though  in  the  devotion  of  the  hero  of  Ther 
mopylae,  and  the  daring  of  the  victor  of  Marathon,  may  be 
found  similes  for  the  like  qualities  in  our  hero.  But  there  is 
too  much  of  fable  and  the  license  of  the  heroic  verse,  in  the 
narrations  of  their  deeds,  to  make  them  reliable. 

"  Shall  we  take  Alexander,  who,  at  the  head  of  his  serried 
phalanxes,  encountered  the  effeminate  masses  of  Asia  and 
scattered  them  like  sheep  before  a  ravening  wolf?  "While 
sighing  for  new  worlds  to  conquer,  he  could  not  control  him 
self,  but  fell  a  victim  to  his  own  excesses. 

"  In  the  march  of  Hannibal,  the  great  Carthaginian 
patriot  and  hero,  over  the  Alps,  and  his  campaigns  in  Italy, 
we  might  find  a  similarity  to  General  Lee's  bold  strategy, 
but  the  system  of  warfare  in  those  days,  the  implements  of 


4:6      REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

war,  and  the  mode  of  maintaining  armies  in  the  field,  which 
had  neither  baggage  nor  supply-trains,  but  foraged  on  the 
country  in  which  they  operated,  make  such  a  vast  difference, 
that  the  parallel  ceases  at  the  very  beginning.  Besides, 
Carthage  and  Borne  were  then  nearly  equal  in  power,  and 
Hannibal  was  enabled  to  receive  reinforcements  from  Car 
thage  by  sea,  as  the  Carthaginians  were  a  great  maritime 
people ;  and  the  hostile  neighbors  to  Eome  readily  furnished 
him  with  allies  and  auxiliaries. 

"  We  will  not  find  in  republican  Rome  a  parallel.  Cer 
tainly  not  in  Julius  Caesar,  the  greatest  of  Eoman  generals, 
who,  at  the  head  of  the  legions  of  '  the  mistress  of  the  world,5 
overran  the  countries  of  barbarians,  and  then  turned  his 
sword  against  the  liberties  of  his  country. 

"  We  shall  search  in  vain  for  one  among  the  generals  of 
the  Eoman  Empire,  either  before  or  after  its  partition  ;  nor 
shall  we  find  one  among  the  leaders  of  the  barbaric  hordes 
which  overran  the  territories  of  the  degenerate  Eoman s ;  nor 
in  the  dark  ages ;  nor  among  the  Crusaders,  who,  under  the 
standard  of  the  Cross,  committed  such  crimes  against  religion 
and  humanity;  nor  among  the  chieftains  of  the  mid  die  ages, 
to  advance  whose  ambitious  projects  the  nations  of  Europe 
were,  by  turns,  torn  and  ravaged. 

"  Perhaps,  in  the  champion  of  Protestantism,  from  the 
North  of  Europe,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  there  might  be  found 
no  unworthy  parallel  for  our  great  leader,  as  well  in  regard 
to  purity  and  unselfishness  of  character,  as  heroic  courage 
and  devotion,  and  the  comparison  has  not  inaptly  been 
drawn  ;  but  the  career  of  the  heroic  King  of  Sweden  was  cut 
short  by  death  in  battle,  at  so  early  a  period,  and  before  he 
had  stood  the  test  of  adversity,  that  the  materials  for  com 
pleting  the  parallel  are  wanting. 

"  Some  have  undertaken  to  draw  the  parallel  between  our 
pure  chieftain  and  Maryborough,  who  owed  his  rise,  in  the 
first  place,  to  the  dishonor  of  his  family,  and '  the  patronage 
of  a  debauched  court  favorite.  I  utterly  repudiate  that  com 


THE  SOLDIER.  47 

parison.  Besides,  Marlborough  commanded  the  armies  of 
the  greatest  maritime  power  in  the  world,  in  alliance  with  all 
the  rest  of  Europe,  against  France  alone.  Shall  we  compare 
General  Lee  to  the  great  Napoleon,  or  his  successful  antag 
onist,  Wellington  ?  Napoleon  was  a  captain  of  most  extra 
ordinary  genius,  but  success  was  always  necessary  to  him. 
As  long  as  he  had  what  Forest,  with  such  terse  vigor,  if  in 
elegance,  would  call  '  the  bulge,'  he  did  wondrously,  but  he 
could  never  stand  reverses ;  and  the  disastrous  retreat  from 
Moscow,  and  the  shameful  flight  from  Waterloo,  must  always 
be  blots  on  his  military  escutcheon.  He  would  have  been 
unable  to  conduct  the  campaigns  of  General  Lee  against  the 
constantly-accumulating  and  ever-renewing  armies  of  the 
enemy,  and  none  of  his  own  campaigns  were  at  all  similar  to 
them.  He  played  a  bold  game  for  empire  and  self-aggran 
dizement,  regardless  of  the  lives,  liberties,  or  happiness  of 
others,  and  the  first  adverse  turn  of  the  wheel  of  fortune 
ruined  him.  '  The  Hundred  Days'  constituted  but  the  last 
desperate  effort  of  a  ruined  gambler. 

"  Wellington  was  a  prudent,  good  soldier,  at  the  head  of 
the  armies  of  a  most  powerful  nation,  'the  mistress  of  the 
seas,'  in  alliance  with  all  Europe  against  Napoleon  in  his 
waning  days.  He  was  emphatically  a  favorite  child  of  For 
tune,  and  won  his  chief  glory  in  a  game  against  the  desperate 
gambler  whose  last  stake  was  up,  when  he  had  all  the  odds 
on  his  side.  'The  Iron  Duke,'  though  almost  worshiped 
and  overwhelmed  with  honors  and  riches  by  the  British 
nation,  does  not  furnish  a  suitable  parallel  for  the  great  Con 
federate  commander. 

"In  regard  to  all  I  have  mentioned,  and  all  other  re 
nowned  military  chief  tains  of  other  days,  in  the  Old  World,  it 
must  be  recollected  that  they  did  not  have  to  contend  against 
the  new  elements  in  the  art  of  war  which  were  brought  to 
bear  against  our  armies  and  their  commanders. 

"  Coming  now  to  this  side  of  the  water,  we  may  draw  a 
parallel  between  General  Lee  and  our  great  Washington  in 


48  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

many  respects;  for,  in  their  great  self-command,  in  tlieir 
patriotism,  and  in  their  purity  and  unselfishness  of  character, 
there  was  a  great  similarity ;  but  the  military  operations  of 
General  Lee  were  on  so  much  grander  a  scale  than  those  of 
Washington,  and  the  physical  changes  in  the  character  of  the 
country,  wrought  by  the  adaptation  of  steam-power,  and  the 
invention  of  railroads  and  the  telegraph,  were  so  great,  that 
there  cease  to  be  any  further  points  of  comparison  between 
them  as  soldiers.  It  was  the  physical  difficulty  of  penetrat 
ing  the  country,  backed  by  the  material  aid,  in  men,  money, 
and  ships-of-war,  of  a  powerful  European  nation,  which 
enabled  the  States  to  win  their  independence  under  Wash 
ington;  while  the  facilities  for  rapid  communication  and 
concentration,  in  connection  with  the  aid  received  by  our 
enemies,  in  men  and  money,  from  all  Europe,  which  was  a 
recruiting-ground  for  them,  caused  our  disasters  and  lost  us 
our  liberties,  in  a  contest  in  which  we  stood  alone. 

"  There  is  no  occasion  to  draw  a  parallel  between  General 
Lee  and  our  dead  heroes,  Sidney  Johnston  and  Jackson. 
The  career  of  the  former,  whose  dawn  gave  such  bright  prom 
ise,  was,  unfortunately,  cut  off  so  soon,  that  the  country  at 
large  did  not  have  an  opportunity  of  learning  all  of  which 
those  who  knew  him  believed  him  to  be  capable. 

"Whoever  shall  undertake  to  draw  a  parallel  between 
General  Lee  and  his  great  Lieutenant,  for  the  purpose  of 
depreciating  the  one  or  the  other,  cannot  have  formed  the 
remotest  conception  of  the  true  character  of  either  of  those 
illustrious  men,  and  congenial  Christian  heroes.  Let  us  be 
thankful  that  our  cause  had  two  such  champions,  and  that, 
in  their  characters,  we  can  furnish  the  world  at  large  with 
the  best  assurance  of  the  rightfulness  of  the  principles  for 
which  they  and  we  fought.  When  asked  for  our  vindication, 
we  can  triumphantly  point  to  the  graves  of  Lee  and  Jackson 
and  look  the  world  squarely  in  the  face.  Let  them,  the 
descendant  of  the  Cavalier  from  tide-water,  and  the  scion  of 
the  Scotch-Irish  stock  from  the  mountains  of  Northwestern 


THE  SOLDIER.  49 

Virginia,  lie  here,  in  this  middle  ground,  and  let  their 
memories  be  cherished  and  mingled  together  in  that  har 
mony  which  characterized  them  during  their  glorious  com 
panionship  in  arms. 

"  Nor  would  it  be  at  all  profitable  to  institute  ar  compari 
son  between  General  Lee  and  any  of  our  living  commanders. 
Let  us  be  rejoiced  that  those  still  survive  who  were  worthy 
defenders  of  our  cause,  and  not  unfit  comrades  of  Lee,  Sidney 
Johnston,  and  Stonewall  Jackson. 

"  Shall  I  compare  General  Lee  to  his  successful  antago 
nist  ?  As  well  compare  the  great  pyramid,  which  rears  its 
majestic  proportions  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  to  a  pigmy 
perched  on  Mount  Atlas. 

"  No,  my  friends,  it  is  a  vain  work  for  us  to  seek  any 
where  for  a  parallel  to  the  great  character  which  has  won  our 
admiration  and  love.  Our  beloved  chief  stands,  like  some 
lofty  column  which  rears  its  head  among  the  highest,  in 
grandeur,  simple,  pure  and  sublime,  needing  no  borrowed 
lustre ;  and  he  is  all  our  own."  .  .  . 

The  gallant  and  accomplished  General  John  B.  Gordon, 
of  Georgia,  who  developed  such  military  genius  as  to  place 
him  in  the  very  fore-front  of  the  soldiers  of  mark  during  the 
war,  thus  speaks  of  General  Lee  as  a  soldier : 

"  But,  as  one  of  the  great  captains  of  the  world,  he  will 
first  pass  review  and  inspection  before  the  criticism  of  his 
tory.  We  will  not  compare  him  with  Washington.  The 
mind  revolts  instinctively  at  the  comparison  and  competition 
of  two  such  men,  so  equally  and  gloriously  great.  But  with 
modest,  yet  calm  and  unflinching  confidence,  we  place  him 
by  the  side  of  the  Marlboroughs  and  Wellingtons,  who  fill 
such  high  niches  in  the  Pantheon  of  immortality. 

"  Let  us  dwell  for  a  moment,  my  friends,  on  this  thought. 
Marlborough  never  met  defeat,  it  is  true.  Victory  marked 
every  step  of  his  triumphant  inarch,  but  when,  where,  and 
whom,  did  Marlborough  fight  ?  The  ambitious  and  vain  but 
able  Louis  XI Y.  had  already  exhausted  the  resources  of  his 

4 


50  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

kingdom  before  Marlborough  stepped  upon  tlie  stage.  Tlie 
great  Marshals  Turenne  and  Conde  were  no  more,  and  Lux 
emburg,  we  believe,  had  vanished  from  the  scene.  Marlbor- 
ough,  preeminently  great,  as  he  certainly  was,  nevertheless 
led  the  combined  forces  of  England  and  of  Holland,  in  the 
freshness  of  their  strength,  and  the  fullness  of  their  financial 
ability,  against  prostrate  France,  with  a  treasury  depleted,  a 
people  worn  out,  discouraged,  and  dejected. 

"  But  let  us  turn  to  another  comparison.  The  great  Yon 
Moltke,  who  now  f  rides  upon  the  whirlwind  and  commands 
the  storm '  of  Prussian  invasion,  has  recently  declared  that 
General  Lee,  in  all  respects,  was  fully  the  equal  of  'Welling 
ton,  and  you  may  the  better  appreciate  this  admission,  when 
you  remember  that  Wellington  was  the  benefactor  of  Prus 
sia,  and  probably  Yon  Moltke's  special  idol.  But  let  us  ex 
amine  the  arguments  ourselves.  France  was  already  pros 
trate  when  Wellington  met  Napoleon.  That  great  emper 
or  had  seemed  to  make  war  upon  the  very  elements  them 
selves,  to  have  contended  with  Nature,  and  to  have  almost 
defied  Providence.  The  Nemesis  of  the  North,  more  savage 
than  Goth  or  Yandal,  mounting  the  swift  gales  of  a  Russian 
winter,  had  carried  death,  desolation,  and  ruin,  to  the  very 
gates  of  Paris.  Wellington  fought,  at  Waterloo,  a  bleeding 
and  broken  nation — a  nation  electrified,  it  is  true,  to  almost 
superhuman  energy,  by  the  genius  of  Napoleon ;  but  a  na 
tion  prostrate  and  bleeding,  nevertheless.  Compare  this,  my 
friends,  the  condition  of  France,  with  the  condition  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  freshness  of  her  strength,  in  the  luxuri 
ance  of  her  resources,  in  the  lustihood  of  her  gigantic  youth, 
and  tell  me  where  belongs  the  chaplet  of  military  superiority, 
with  Lee  or  with  Marlborough  or  Wellington  ?  Even  that 
greatest  of  captains,  in  his  Italian  campaigns,  flashing  his 
fame,  in  lightning  splendor,  over  the  world,  even  Bonaparte 
met  and  crushed  in  battle  but  three  or  four  (I  think)  Aus 
trian  armies ;  while  our  Lee,  with  one  army,  badly  equipped, 
and  in  time  incredibly  short,  met  and  hurled  back,  in  broken 


THE   SOLDIER.  51 

and  shattered  fragments,  five  admirably  prepared  and  most 
magnificently  appointed  invasions.  Yes,  more,  he  discrowned, 
in  rapid  succession,  one  after  another  of  the  United  States' 
most  accomplished  and  admirable  commanders. 

"  Lee  was  never  really  beaten.  Lee  could  not  be  beaten ! 
Overpowered,  foiled  in  his  efforts,  he  might  be,  but  never 
defeated  until  the  props  which  supported  him  gave  way. 
Never  until  the  platform  sank  beneath  him,  did  any  enemy 
ever  dare  pursue.  On  that  most  melancholy  of  pages,  the 
downfall  of  the  Confederacy,  no  Leipsic,  no  Waterloo,  no 
Sedan,  can  ever  be  recorded." 

Colonel  Charles  S.  Tenable,  of  General  Lee's  staff,  made 
in  Richmond,  on  the  30th  of  October,  1873,  an  address  be 
fore  the  "  Association  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia," 
in  which  he  gave  a  sketch  of  the  campaign  from  the  Wilder 
ness  to  Petersburg.  His  summing  up  was  as  follows : 

"  On  the  4th  of  May,  four  converging  invading  columns 
set  out  simultaneously  for  the  conquest  of  Tirginia.  The 
old  State,  which  had  for  three  years  known  little  else  save  the 
tramp  of  armed  legions,  was  now  to  be  closed  in  by  a  circle 
of  fire,  from  the  mountains  to  the  seaboard. 

"  Through  the  southwestern  mountain-passes ;  through  the 
gates  of  the  lower  Talley ;  from  the  battle-scarred  vales  of 
the  Rappahannock ;  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  to  the  waters 
of  the  James,  came  the  serried  hosts  on  field  and  flood,  num 
bering  more  than  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand 
men  (including  in  this  number  also  reinforcements  sent  dur 
ing  the  campaign).  No  troops  were  ever  more  thoroughly 
equipped,  or  supplied  with  a  more  abundant  commissariat. 
For  the  heaviest  column  transports  were  ready  to  bring  sup 
plies  and  reinforcements  to  any  one  of  three  convenient 
deep-water  bases — Aquia  Creek,  Port  Royal,  and  the  White 
House. 

"  The  column  next  in  importance  had  its  deep-water  base 
within  nine  miles  of  a  vital  point  in  our  defenses.  In  the 
cavalry  arm  (so  important  in  a  campaign  in  a  country  like 


52  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL    ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

ours)  they  boasted  overwhelming  strength.  The  Confeder 
ate  forces  in  Virginia,  or  which  could  be  drawn  to  its  defense 
from  other  points,  numbered  not  more  than  seventy-five 
thousand  men.  Yet  our  great  commander  with  steadfast 
heart,  committing  our  cause  to  the  Lord  of  battles,  calmly 
made  his  disposition  to  meet  the  shock  of  the  invading  hosts. 
In  sixty  days  the  great  invasion  had  dwindled  to  a  siege  of 
Petersburg  (nine  miles  from  deep  water)  by  the  main  col 
umn,  which,  *  shaken  in  its  structure,  its  valor  quenched  in 
blood,  and  thousands  of  its  ablest  officers  killed  or  wounded, 
was  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  no  more.' 

"  Mingled  with  it  in  the  lines  of  Petersburg  lay  the  men  of 
the  second  column,  which  for  the  last  forty  days  of  the  cam 
paign  had  been  held  in  inglorious  inaction  at  Bermuda  Hun 
dreds  by  Beauregard,  except  when  a  portion  of  it  was  sent  to 
share  the  defeat  of  June  3d  on  the  Chickahominy,  while  the 
third  and  fourth  columns,  foiled  at  Lynchburg,  were  wan 
dering  in  disorderly  retreat  through  the  mountains  of  West 
Virginia,  entirely  out  of  the  area  of  military  operations. 

"  Lee  had  made  his  works  at  Petersburg  impregnable  to 
assault,  and  had  a  movable  column  of  his  army  within  two 
days'  march  of  the  Federal  capital.  He  had  made  a  campaign 
unexampled  in  the  history  of  defensive  warfare." 

Colonel  Venable  thus  concluded  his  address  on  this  occa 
sion  : 

"  My  comrades,  I  feel  that  I  have  given  but  a  feeble  pict 
ure  of  this  grand  period  in  the  history  of  this  time  of  trial 
of  our  beloved  South — a  histoiy  which  is  a  great  gift  of  God, 
and  which  we  must  hand  down  as  a  holy  heritage  to  our 
children,  not  to  teach  them  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  bitterness  or 
a  love  for  war,  but  to  show  them  that  their  fathers  bore 
themselves  worthily  in  the  strife  when  to  do  battle  became  a 
sacred  duty.  Heroic  history  is  the  living  soul  of  a  nation'? 
renown.  When  the  traveler  in  Switzerland  beholds  the 
monument  to  the  thirteen  hundred  brave  mountaineers  whc 
met  the  overwhelming  hosts  of  their  proud  invaders,  and  as 


THE   SOLDIER.       .  53 

he  reads  in  their  epitaph, '  who  fell  unconquered,  but  wearied 
with  victory,  giving  their  souls  to  God  and  their  bodies  to 
the  enemy ; '  or  when  he  visits  the  places  sacred  to  the 
myth  of  William  Tell,  transplanted  by  pious,  patriotic  frauds 
from  the  legends  of  another  people  to  inspire  the  youth  of  that 
mountain-land  with  a  hatred  of  tyrants  and  a  love  of  heroic 
deeds ;  or  when  he  contemplates  that  wonderful  monument 
by  Thorwaldsen  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Lucerne  in  com 
memoration  of  the  fidelity  in  death  of  the  Swiss  Guard  of 
Louis  XYI. — a  colossal  lion,  cut  out  of  the  living  rock, 
pierced  by  a  fatal  javelin,  and  yet  in  death  protecting  the 
lily  of  France  with  his  paw — he  asks  himself,  how  many  men 
of  the  nations  of  the  world  have  been  inspired  with  a  love 
of  freedom  by  the  monuments  and  heroic  stories  of  little 
Switzerland  ? 

"  Comrades,  we  need  not  weave  any  fable  borrowed  from 
Scandinavian  lore  into  the  woof  of  our  history  to  inspire  our 
youth  with  admiration  of  glorious  deeds  in  freedom's  battles 
done.  In  the  true  history  of  this  Army  of  Northern  Virgin 
ia,  which  laid  down  its  arms  not  conquered,  but  wearied  with 
victory,  you  have  a  record  of  deeds  of  valor,  of  unselfish  con 
secration  to  duty,  and  faithfulness  in  death,  which  will  teach 
our  sons  and  our  sons'  sons  how  to  die  for  liberty.  Let  us 
see  to  it  that  it  shall  be  transmitted  to  them." 

In  an  address  before  the  "  Society  of  Confederate  Sol 
diers  and  Sailors,"  in  Baltimore,  October  12,  1871,  that  ac 
complished  soldier,  General  Wade  Hampton,  of  South  Caro 
lina,  thus  sums  up  the  result  of  the  compaign  of  1862 : 

"  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Lee,  in  the  short  space  of  two 
months,  with  a  force  at  no  time  exceeding  seventy -five  thou 
sand  (75,000)  men,  defeated  in  repeated  engagements  two 
Federal  armies,  each  of  which  was  not  less  than  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  (120,000)  strong,  relieved  the  Southern 
capital  from  danger,  and  even  threatened  that  of  the  North. 
But  the  campaign,  great  as  it  had  been,  was  not  to  end  here. 
Throwing  his  army  into  Maryland,  Lee  swept  down  from 


54:  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

that  State  on  Harper's  Ferry,  capturing  it,  with  its  garrison 
of  eleven  thousand  (11,000)  men,  and  seventy-two  (72)  guns ; 
and  then  again  concentrating  his  troops  on  the  north  of  the 
Potomac,  he  fought  the  brilliant  and  bloody  battle  of  Sharps- 
burg.  In  this  great  fight — for  great  it  was,  though  the 
Southern  arms  failed  to  gain  so  decisive  a  victory  as  had  so 
generally  attended  them — Lee,  with  only  thirty-seven  thou 
sand  (37,000)  men,  repulsed  every  attack  of  the  enemy,  who 
brought  into  the  field  an  army  three  times  as  strong  as  his 
own.  Is  this  not  glory  enough  for  one  campaign,  for  one 
army — for  one  man  ?  Yet  the  story  of  these  great  deeds  is 
scarcely  begun — the  glory  not  yet  at  its  zenith.  Before  even 
this  campaign  ended,  c  Fredericksburg '  was  to  be  inscribed 
on  those  Southern  banners  which  were  already  so  covered 
by  names  of  victories  as  scarcely  to  leave  room  for  another." 

After  quoting  the  simple  but  beautiful  orders  in  which 
General  Lee  announced  to  his  troops  the  results  of  this  cam 
paign,  General  Hampton  continues : 

"  These  words,  brief  and  simple  as  they  are,  record  deeds 
rarely  equaled.  What  was  accomplished  by  Lee  in  the  brief 
period  embraced  in  this  order  will  be  more  readily  compre 
hended  by  giving  the  actual  results  of  the  campaign.  These 
were,  besides  a  series  of  brilliant  victories  to  the  Confederate 
arms,  losses  to  the  enemy  of  seventy-five  thousand  (75,000) 
men,  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  (154)  pieces  of  artillery,  and 
seventy  thousand  (70,000)  small-arms.  If  to  this  list,  so 
glorious  to  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  be  added  the 
Federal  loss  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  we  shall  have 
the  enormous  number  of  eighty-seven  thousand  five  hundred 
(87,500)  men  killed,  wounded,  and  captured  by  this  army 
in  one  short  campaign." 

General  Hampton  then  shows  the  superiority  of  Lee's 
generalship,  in  an  able  sketch  of  his  subsequent  campaigns, 
and  makes  the  following  comparison  between  him  and  his 
finally  successful  antagonist : 

"  What  did  Lee  effect  with  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  ? 


THE   SOLDIER.  55 

"In  the  three  years  he  commanded  that  army,  he  in 
flicted  a  loss  on  the  enemy  of  not  less,  and  perhaps  more, 
than  three  hundred  thousand  (300,000)  men,  besides  taking 
guns  and  small-arms  almost  beyond  computation.  In  his 
last  campaign,  with  a  force  at  no  time  exceeding  forty-five 
thousand  (45,000),  and  often  far  less  than  that  number,  he 
destroyed  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  (120,000)  of  the 
enemy,  and  he  held  for  nine  months  a  weak  line  against  an 
army  quadruple  his  own.  These  are,  in  brief,  the  actual, 
palpable,  enduring  results  of  his  generalship. 

"  What  did  Grant  effect  during  those  same  eleven  months 
of  carnage  embraced  in  the  last  campaign,  to  prove  his  gener 
alship  ?  He  began  his  movement  with  upward  of  one  hun 
dred  and  forty  thousand  (140,000)  men,  and  he  was  able,  on 
account  of  his  great  resources,  to  keep  his  army  up  to  this 
number,  at  least,  to  the  close.  In  the  first  month  of  the  cam 
paign  his  loss  was  so  heavy  that,  had  his  dead  and  wounded 
been  placed  touching  each  other,  they  would  literally  have 
formed  one  long,  continuous,  gory  line  from  the  Wilderness 
to  Cold  Harbor !  They  at  least  had  fought  it  out  £  on  that 
line.'  In  the  whole  campaign  he  lost  not  less  than  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  thousand  (120,000)  men,  and  he  finally,  by 
mere  weight  of  numbers — for  his  generalship  could  never 
have  accomplished  this — overwhelmed  his  antagonist.  But 
in  order  to  bring  this  question  down  to  narrower  limits,  let 
us  suppose  that  the  relative  numbers  and  positions  of  the  op 
posing  armies  had  been  reversed,  and  that  Grant,  with  thirty- 
five  thousand  (35,000)  men,  had  occupied  a  line  forty  miles 
long,  while  Lee  confronted  him  with  one  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  (140,000)  Southern  troops :  can  any  imagination, 
however  wild,  stretch  so  far  as  to  conceive  that  he  could 
have  held  that  line  for  nine  months?  The  proposition  is 
too  absurd  for  serious  consideration.  He  would  not  have 
held  it  for  one  month,  not  for  one  day,  no,  not  for  one 
hour!" 

"Want  of  space  compels  the  omission  of  the  testimony  of 


50  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

others  of  the  ablest  soldiers  of  the  Confederate  army.  Suf 
fice  it  to  say,  that  they  all  concur  in  the  opinion  which  Stone 
wall  Jackson  once  expressed  :  "  General  Lee  is  a  phenome 
non,  lie  is  the  only  man  whom  I  would  be  willing  to  follow 
blindfold." 

Indeed,  it  has  been  rarely  the  fortune  of  a  military  chief 
tain  to  inspire  his  subordinates  with  such  implicit  confidence 
in  his  ability ;  and  Lee's  soldiers  thought  that  he  could  ac 
complish  any  thing  which  his  judgment  would  allow  him  to 
undertake. 

Equally  decided  were  the  opinions  of  civilians  who  were 
in  position  to  fully  appreciate  his  merits.  The  able  soldier- 
statesmen  who  presided  over  the  fortunes  of  the  Confeder 
acy,  the  Cabinet,  the  Congress,  the  press,  and  the  people, 
were  wellnigh  unanimous  in  pronouncing  on  his  unrivaled 
merits. 

John  Mitchell,  the  Irish  patriot,  thus  wrote  of  him  in  the 
New  York  Citizen: 

"  The  highest  head,  the  noblest  and  grandest  character  of 
our  continent,  the  most  conscientious,  humane,  and  faithful 
soldier,  the  most  chivalrous  gentleman  in  this  world,  the 
best,  the  most  superb  sample  of  the  American  warrior,  has 
fallen  like  a  mighty  tree  in  the  forest ;  and  men  wonder, 
after  the  first  shock  of  the  news,  to  find  that  there  is  such  a 
gap,  such  a  blank  in  the  world. 

"  What  is  there  wanting  to  the  fame  of  this  illustrious 
American  ? " 

One  other  extract  from  the  countless  expressions  of  his 
friends  is  subjoined.  An  able  writer  in  the  Southern  Re 
view  makes  the  following  comparison  between  the  achieve 
ments  of  Lee  and  Wellington :  "  As  compared  with  those  of 
General  Lee,  they  seem,  including  even  Waterloo,  absolutely 
insignificant.  General  Lee,  with  a  force  not  so  large  as  the 
Anglo-Portuguese  regular  army,  which  Wellington  had  un 
der  him  when  he  encountered  Massena  in  1809 — not  half  so 
large  as  his  whole  force,  if  the  Portuguese  militia  be  taken 


THE   SOLDIER.  57 

into  the  account — in  the  space  "of  twenty-eight  days,  in  three 
battles,  killed  and  wounded  more  men  than  "Wellington  ever 
killed  and  wounded  during  his  whole  career  from  Assaye  to 
Waterloo,  both  •  inclusive.     In  one  of  these  battles  he  killed 
and  wounded  more  men  by  nine  thousand  (9,000)  than  the 
French  army  lost,  including  prisoners,  in  the  whole  cam 
paign  of  Waterloo,  and  the  pursuit  to  the  gates  of  Paris. 
In  the  same  battle  he  killed  and  wounded  more  men  than 
Wellington,  Blucher,  and  Napoleon,  all  three  together,  lost 
in  killed  and  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  by  five  thou 
sand  (5,000)  men.     In  the  second  of  these  battles  he  killed 
and  wounded  the  same  number  that  both  the  opposing  armies 
lost  in  the  battle  of  Waterloo ;  and  in  the  third  he  killed  and 
wounded  more  men,  by  seven  thousand   (7,000),  than  the 
French  alone  lost  in  the  battle  of  Waterloo.     In  the  three 
battles  together,  Lee  killed  and  wounded  more  men,  by  at 
least  thirty  thousand  (30,000),  than  the  allies  and  the  French 
lost  in  the  whole  campaign,  including  prisoners.     The  force 
with  which  Lee  operated  never  amounted  at  one  time  to  fif 
ty  thousand  (50,000)  men  ;  the  force  with  which  Welling 
ton  and  Blucher  acted  was,  even  according  to  English  esti 
mates,  one  hundred   and  ninety  thousand  (190,000)  strong. 
The  force  to  which  Lee  was  opposed  was  from  first  to  last 
two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  (240,000)  strong ;  the  force 
to  which  Wellington  and  Blucher  were  opposed  was  but  one 
hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand  (122,000)  strong.     When 
Massena  invaded  Portugal,  in  1810,  Wellington  had  thirty 
thousand   (30,000)  British  troops  and  twenty-five  thousand 
(25,000)  Portuguese  regulars,  who,  in  the  battle  of  Busaco, 
according  to  Wellington's  own  account,  f  proved  themselves 
worthy  to  fight  side  by  side  with  the  British  veterans ; '  be 
sides  forty  thousand  (40,000)  admirable  Portuguese  militia, 
lie  had  Lisbon  for  his  base,  with  a  British  war-fleet  riding 
at  anchor,  and  innumerable  vessels  of  other  descriptions  ply 
ing  between  the  port  and  England,  and  bringing  the  most 
abundant  supplies  of  arms,  provisions,  and  munitions  of  war. 


58      REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

He  had  surrounded  the  port  with  the  most  tremendous  sys 
tem  of  fortifications  known  in  modern  times,  and  his  task 
was  to  defend  the  strongest  country  in  Europe.  In  Lee's 
case  the  enemy  had  possession  of  the  sea,  and  could  and  did 
land  a  powerful  army  to  attack  the  very  basis  of  his  opera 
tions,  while  he  was  fighting  another  of  still  greater  strength 
in  front.  It  is  probably  not  altogether  just  to  Wellington 
to  institute  this  comparison.  If  his  deeds  look  but  common 
place  beside  the  achievements  of  this  campaign,  so  do  all 
others.  The  history  of  the  world  cannot  exhibit  such  a  cam 
paign  as  that  of  Lee  in  1864." 

If  it  be  objected  that  the  opinions  above  cited  are  those 
of  too  partial  friends,  the  ready  reply  is  to  quote  from  those 
who  adhered  to  the  North  in  the  great  struggle. 

In  an  address  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  General  Preston 
thus  gives  the  opinion  of  General  Winfield  Scott  of  his 
favorite  officer : 

"  I  remember  when  General  Lee  was  appointed  lieuten 
ant-colonel,  at  the  same  time  when  Sidney  Johnston  was  ap 
pointed  colonel,  and  General  Scott  thought  that  Lee  should 
have  been  colonel.  I  was  talking  with  General  Scott  on 
the  subject  long  before  the  late  struggle  between  the  ]^"orth 
and  South  took  place,  and  he  then  said  that  Lee  was  the 
greatest  living  soldier  in  America.  He  didn't  object  to  the 
other  commission,  but  he  thought  Lee  should  be  first  pro 
moted.  Finally,  he  said  to  me,  with  emphasis,  what  you 
will  pardon  me  for  relating :  'I  tell  you  that  if  I  were  on  my 
death-bed  to-morrow,  and  the  President  of  the  United  States 
should  tell  me  that  a  great  battle  was  to  be  fought  for  tlie  lib 
erty  or  slavery  of  the  country ',  and  asked  my  judgment  as  to 
the  ability  of  a  commander,  I  would  say  with  my  dying 
breath,  Let  it  be  Eobert  E.  Lee.'  " 

In  his  address  at  a  memorial  meeting  in  Baltimore,  Hon. 
Reverdy  Johnson  bore  the  following  testimony  : 

"  It  was  his  good  fortune  to  know  him  many  years  since, 
before  the  Mexican  War,  immediately  preceding  the  greal 


THE   SOLDIER.  59 

struggle,  and  after  it.  The  conduct  of  General  Lee  at  every 
period  was  every  thing  that  could  command  the  respect,  ad 
miration,  and  love  of  man.  He  (Mr.  Johnson)  had  been  in 
timate  with  the  late  General  Scott,  commander  of  the  Army 
of  Mexico,  and  served  with  him  as  a  quasi-^rof essional  adviser 
in  Washington,  and  he  had  heaid  General  Scott  more  than 
once  say  that  his  success  was  largely  due  to  the  skill,  valor, 
and  undaunted  energy  of  Kobert  E.  Lee.  It  was  a  theme 
upon  which  he  (General  Scott)  liked  to  converse,  and  he  stated 
his  purpose  to  recommend  him  as  his  successor  in  the  chief 
command  of  the  army. 

"He  (Mr.  Johnson)  was  with  General  Scott  in  April,  1861, 
when  he  received  the  resignation  of  General  Lee,  and  wit 
nessed  the  pain  it  caused  him.  It  was  a  sad  blow  to  the  suc 
cess  of  that  war,  in  which  his  own  sword  had  as  yet  been  un 
sheathed.  Much  as  General  Scott  regretted  it,  he  never  failed 
to  say  that  he  was  convinced  that  Lee  had  taken  that  step 
from  an  imperative  sense  of  duty.  General  Scott  was  con 
soled  in  a  great  measure  by  the  reflection  that  he  would  have 
as  his  opponent  a  soldier  worthy  of  every  man's  esteem,  and 
one  who  would  conduct  the  wrar  upon  the  strictest  rules  of 
civilized  warfare.  There  would  be  no  outrages  committed 
upon  private  persons  or  private  property  which  he  could  pre 
vent.  .  .  . 

"  Robert  E.  Lee  is  worthy  of  all  praise.  As  a  man,  he 
was  peerless  among  men.  As  a  soldier,  he  had  no  superior 
and  no  equal.  As  a  humane  and  Christian  soldier,  he  towers 
high  in  the  political  horizon.  He  remembered  with  what  de 
light,  while  he  was  the  representative  of  the  country  at  the 
court  of  Great  Britain,  he  heard  the  praises  of  General  Lee's 
character  and  fame  from  eminent  soldiers  and  statesmen  of 
that  country.  The  occasion  does  not  require  any  comparisons 
that  were  made  between  the  generals  of  the  North  and  Lee 
by  the  public  opinion  of  England.  There  was  not  one  of 
them  who  was  the  superior  of  Robert  E.  Lee.  It  was  not 
only  the  skill  with  which  he  planned  his  campaigns,  it  was 


00  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

the  humane  manner  in  which  he  carried  them  out.  He  heard 
the  praises  which  were  bestowed  upon  Lee's  order  of  June 
26,  1863,  issued  in  Pennsylvania,  to  his  army,  in  which  he 
told  his  men  not  to  forget  that  the  honor  of  the  army  required 
them  to  observe  the  same  humanity  in  the  country  of  the 
enemy  as  in  their  own." 

As  confirmatory  of  the  statements  of  General  Scott's 
opinion  of  Lee,  I  give  in  full  the  following  letter  : 

"HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY,  May  8,  1857. 
"  Hon.  J.  B.  FLOYD,  Secretary  of  War. 

"  Sm :  I  beg  to  ask  that  one  of  the  vacant  second-lieutenant- 
cies  may  be  given  to  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  son  of  Brevet-Colonel  R  E. 
Lee,  at  present  on  duty  against  the  Comanches. 

"  I  make  this  application  mainly  on  the  extraordinary  merits 
of  the  father — the  very  best  soldier  that  lever  saw  in  the  field — 
but  the  son  is  himself  a  very  remarkable  youth,  now  about 
twenty,  of  a  fine  stature  and  constitution,  a  good  linguist,  a 
good  mathematician,  and  about  to  graduate  at  Harvard  Univer 
sity.  He  is  also  honorable,  and  amiable  like  his  father,  and  dy 
ing  to  enter  the  army.  I  do  not  ask  this  commission  as  a  favor, 
though  if  I  had  influence  I  should  be  happy  to  exert  it  in  this 
case.  My  application  is  in  the  name  of  national  justice,  in  part 
payment  (and  but  a  small  part)  of  the  debt  due  to  the  invalu 
able  services  of  Colonel  Lee. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  high  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  WINFIELD  SCOTT." 

Rev.  Dr.  Brantley  stated,  in  a  memorial  discourse  at  At 
lanta,  that  in  a  conversation  with  him  General  George  Meade, 
of  the  United  States  Army,  had  stated  as  his  very  emphatic 
opinion  that  Lee  was  "  by  far  the  ablest  Confederate  general 
which  the  war  produced." 

In  an  editorial  upon  his  death  the  New  York  World  said  : 
"Every  man  is  to  be  judged,  so  far  as  human  judgment 
may  be  passed  upon  him  at  all,  by  the  tenor  of  the  motives  to 
which  the  main  current  of  his  days  has  responded.  Judged 


THE   SOLDIER.  Gl 

by  this  standard,  the  career  of  Robert  E.  Lee  must  command 
the  deliberate  admiration  even  of  those  who  most  earnestly 
condemn  the  course  upon  which  he  decided  in  the  most  solemn 
and  imperative  crisis  of  his  life.  Of  his  genius  as  a  military 
commander  we  do  not  speak.  To  that  the  unanimous  voice 
of  all  the  true  and  gallant  men  who  fought  our  long  battle 
out  with  him  and  his  untiring  army  has  borne  abundant  wit 
ness.  The  events  which  evoked  it  are  still  too  near  to  us,  too 
many  melancholy  memories  still  cluster  about  the  names  of 
those  prodigious  battle-fields  of  Virginia,  to  make  it  natural 
or  possible  for  a  Northern  pen  to  dwell  with  complacency 
upon  the  strategic  resources,  the  inexhaustible  patience,  the 
calm  determination,  of  our  most  illustrious  antagonist.  But 
if  the  testimony  of  all  honorable  men  who  contended  against 
the  great  Southern  general  agrees  with  the  verdict  of  all  com 
petent  foreign  critics  in  awarding  to  him  a  place  among  the 
most  eminent  soldiers  of  history,  the  concord  is  not  less 
absolute  of  all  who  knew  the  man  in  the  private  and  personal 
aspects  of  his  life,  as  to  his  gentleness,  his  love  of  justice,  his 
truth,  and  his  elevation  of  soul." 

The  New  York  Sun,  edited  by  Charles  A.  Dana — Mr. 
Lincoln's  Assistant  Secretary  of  War — thus  concludes  its  no 
tice: 

"  His  death  will  awaken  most  profound  and  honest  mani 
festations  of  grief  throughout  the  entire  South,  and  very  many 
people  in  the  North  will  forget  political  differences  beside  the 
open  grave  of  the  dead  chieftain,  and  drop  a  tear  of  sorrow 
on  his  bier.  And  whatever  may  be  the  verdict  as  to  his  ca 
reer  in  public  life,  the  universal  expression  will  be  that  in 
General  Lee  an  able  soldier,  a  sincere  Christian,  and  an  honest 
man,  has  been  taken  from  earth." 

The  New  YorJc  Herald  thus  announced  his  death : 

"  On  a  quiet  autumn  morning,  in  the  land  which  he  loved 
BO  well,  and,  as  he  held,  served  so  faithfully,  the  spirit  of 
Robert  Edward  Lee  left  the  clay  which  it  had  so  much  en 
nobled,  and  traveled  out  of  this  world  into  the  great  and 


62  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

mysterious  land.  The  expressions  of  regret  which  sprang 
from  the  few  who  surrounded  the  bedside  of  the  dying  sol 
dier  and  Christian,  on  yesterday,  will  be  swelled  to-day  into 
one  mighty  voice  of  sorrow,  resounding  throughout  our 
country,  and  extending  over  all  parts  of  the  world  where  his 
great  genius  and  his  many  virtues  are  known.  For  not  to 
the  Southern  people  alone  shall  be  limited  the  tribute  of 
a  tear  over  the  dead  Virginian.  Here  in  the  North,  forget 
ting  that  the  time  was  when  the  sword  of  Robert  Edward  Lee 
was  drawn  against  us — forgetting  and  forgiving  all  the  years 
of  bloodshed  and  agony — we  have  long  since  ceased  to  look 
upon  him  as  the  Confederate  leader,  but  have  claimed  him  as 
one  of  ourselves ;  have  cherished  and  felt  proud  of  his  mili- 
tory  genius  as  belonging  to  us ;  have  recounted  and  recorded 
his  triumphs  as  our  own ;  have  extolled  his  virtue  as  reflect 
ing  upon  us — f or  Robert  Edward  Lee  was  an  American,  and 
the  great  nation  which  gave  him  birth  would  be  to-day  un 
worthy  of  such  a  son  if  she  regarded  him  lightly. 

"  ISTever  had  mother  a  nobler  son.  In.  him  the  military 
genius  of  America  was  developed  to  a  greater  extent  than 
ever  before.  In  him  all  that  was  pure  and  lofty  in  mind  and 
purpose  found  lodgment.  Dignified  without  presumption, 
affable  without  familiarity,  he  united  all  those  charms  of 
manners  which  made  him  the  idol  of  his  friends  and  of  his 
soldiers,  and  won  for  him  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the 
world.  Even  as,  in  the  days  of  his  triumph,  glory  did  not 
intoxicate,  so,  when  the  dark  clouds  swept  over  him,  adver 
sity  did  not  depress.  From  the  hour  that  he  surrendered  his 
sword  at  Appomattox  to  the  fatal  autumn  morning,  he  passed 
among  men,  noble  in  his  quiet,  simple  dignity,  displaying 
neither  bitterness  nor  regret  over  the  irrevocable  past.  He 
conquered  us  in  misfortune  by  the  grand  manner  in  which 
he  sustained  himself,  even  as  he  dazzled  us  by  his  genius 
when  the  tramp  of  his  soldiers  resounded  through  the  valleys 
of  Virginia. 

"  And  for  such  a  man  we  are  all  tears  and  sorrow  to-day. 


THE  SOLDIER.  63 

Standing  beside  his  grave,  men  of  the  South  and  men  of  the 
North  can  mourn  with  all  the  bitterness  of  four  years  of  war 
fare  erased  by  this  common  bereavement.  May  this  unity 
of  grief — this  unselfish  manifestation  over  the  loss  of  the 
Bayard  of  America — in  the  season  of  dead  leaves  and  with 
ered  branches  which  this  death  ushers  in,  bloom  and  blossom 
like  the  distant  coming  spring  into  the  flowers  of  a  heartier 
accord ! 

"  ....  In  person  General  Lee  was  a  notably  handsome 
man.  He  was  tall  of  stature,  and  admirably  proportioned ;  his 
features  were  regular  and  most  amiable  in  appearance,  and  in 
his  manners  he  was  courteous  and  dignified.  In  social  life 
he  was  much  admired.  As  a  slaveholder,  he  was  beloved  by 
his  slaves  for  his  kindness  and  consideration  toward  them. 
General  Lee  was  also  noted  for  his  piety.  He  was  an  Epis 
copalian,  and  was  a  regular  attendant  at  church.  Having  a 
perfect  command  over  his  temper,  he  was  never  seen  angry, 
and  his  most  intimate  friends  never  heard  him  utter  an  oath. 
Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  if  there  are  many  men  of  the  present 
generation  who  unite  so  many  virtues  and  so  few  vices  in 
each  of  themselves  as  did  General  Lee.  He  came  nearer  the 
ideal  of  a  soldier  and  Christian  general  than  any  man  we  can 
think  of,  for  he  was  a  greater  soldier  than  Havelock,  and 
equally  as  devout  a  Christian.  In  his  death  our  country  has 
lost  a  son  of  whom  she  might  well  be  proud,  and  for  whose 
services  she  might  have  stood  in  need  had  he  lived  a  few 
years  longer,  for  we  are  certain  that,  had  occasion  required 
it,  General  Lee  would  have  given  to  the  United  States  the 
benefit  of  all  his  great  talents." 

The  Philadelphia  Age  thus  concluded  an  extended  criti 
cism  of  his  military  caieer : 

"His  best-fought  fields  were  on  the  Peninsula  and  at 
Chancellorsville  and  Fredericksburg,  and  the  long,  desperate, 
brilliant,  unequal  struggle,  the  successes  of  which  will  fill  the 
soldier  with  admiration  and  wonder,  though  to  the  popular 
eye  they  are  merged  in  the  fall  of  Richmond  and  the  capitu- 


04  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

lation  of  his  army.  As  a  great  master  of  defensive  warfare, 
Lee  will  probably  not  be  ranked  inferior  to  any  general 
known  in  history.  Whether  those  for  whom  he  fought  will 
rank  him  ultimately  above  Johnston  and  Jackson,  or  how  he 
will  stand  on  the  page  of  history,  in  comparison  with  his 
great  opponents,  we  have  neither  ability  nor  inclination  to 
discuss.  It  is  not  our  aim  to-day  to  criticise,  nor  to  broach 
political  questions,  but  to  pay  our  tribute  of  respect  and  hon 
or  to  a  great  man,  who  fought  fairly  and  nobly  on  the  side 
he  took,  sincerely  believing  it  to  be,  according  to  his  light, 
the  side  to  which  patriotism  and  honor  summoned  him. 
There  are  too  many  men  in  the  world  who  willfully  go  wrong 
from  base  and  venal  and  selfish  motives.  Let  us  be  chari 
table  to  the  brave  and  good,  who,  if  they  err,  err  because  hu 
man  judgment  is  fallible,  the  circumstances  of  their  position 
difficult,  and  the  path  of  duty,  which  they  wish  to  follow,  is 
not,  to  their  eyes,  clearly  discernible." 

The  Cincinnati  Inquirer  paid  him  the  following  trib 
ute: 

"  The  world  knows  of  his  virtues  and  his  private  worth, 
and  the  men  who  have  commanded  armies  can  bear  witness 
to  his  valor  and  skill  as  a  man  of  arms.  HP.  was  the  great 
general  of  the  '  Rebellion.'  It  was  his  strategy  and  supe 
rior  military  knowledge  which  kept  the  banner  of  the  South 
afloat  so  long,  and  the  campaign  of  the  Widerness,  the  de 
fense  of  Richmond,  and  the  bold  advances  into  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania,  which  only  failed  because  of  insufficient 
numbers,  established  him  long  before  the  close  of  the  war  as 
one  whom  the  powerful  press  of  England  might  well  pro 
claim  c  the  great  captain  of  the  age.'  There  is  no  man  so 
bigoted  to-day  as  not  to  believe  that  if  Grant  had  commanded 
the  ill-provided,  half -fed  army  which  stood  like  a  wall  of  fire 
around  Richmond,  and  the  command  of  that  grand  army 
which  went  down  into  the  Yfilderness  could  have  been  given 
to  Lee,  the  flag  of  the  Union  would  have  floated  over  the 
Confederate  capital  long  before  n't  did." 


THE  SOLDIER.  55 

Horace  Greeley  can  be  suspected  of  no  undue  partiality 
to  Lee,  and  his  book,  "  The  American  Conflict,"  is  very  far 
from  fair  to  the  Confederates,  but  in  his  account  of  the  clos 
ing  scene  at  Appomattox  he  is  constrained  to  say :  "  The 
parting  of  Lee  with  his  devoted  followers  was  a  sad  one. 
Of  the  proud  army  which,  dating  its  victories  from  Bull 
Hun,  had  driven  McClellan  from  before  Richmond,  and  with 
stood  his  best  effort  at  Antietam,  and  shattered  Burnside's 
host  at  Fredericksburg,  and  worsted  Hooker  at  Chancellors- 
ville,  and  fought  Meade  so  stoutly,  though  unsuccessfully, 
before  Gettysburg,  and  baffled  Grant's  bounteous  resources 
and  desperate  efforts  in  the  Wilderness,  at  Spottsylvania,  on 
the  North  Anna,  at  Cold  Harbor,  and  before  Petersburg 
and  Richmond,  a  mere  wreck  remained.  It  is  said  that  twenty- 
seven  thousand  were  included  in  Lee's  capitulation ;  but  of 
these  not  more  than  ten  thousand  had  been  able  to  carry  their 
arms  thus  far  on  their  hopeless  and  almost  foodless  flight. 
Barely  nineteen  miles  from  Lynchburg  when  surrendered, 
the  physical  possibility  of  forcing  their  way  thither  even  at  the 
cost  of  half  their  number  no  longer  remained.  And  if  they 
were  all  safely  there,  what  then  ?  The  resources  of  the  Con 
federacy  were  utterly  exhausted.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men  whose  names  were  borne  on  its  muster-rolls  a  few 
weeks  ago,  at  least  one-third  were  already  disabled  or  prisoners, 
and  the  residue  could  neither  be  clad  nor  fed — not  to  dream  of 
their  being  fully  armed  or  paid ;  while  the  resources  of  the  loyal 
States  were  scarcely  touched,  their  ranks  nearly  or  quite  as 
full  as  ever,  and  their  supplies  of  ordnance,  small-arms,  mu 
nitions,  etc.,  more  ample  than  in  any  previous  April.  Of 
the  million  or  so  borne  on  our  muster-rolls,  probably  not 
more  than  half  were  in  active  service,  with  half  so  many 
more  able  to  take  the  field  at  short  notice.  The  rebellion 
had  failed  and  .gone  down;  but  the  rebel  army  of  Virginia 
and  its  commander  had  not  failed.  Fighting  sternly  against 
the  inevitable ;  against  the  irrepressible  tendencies — the  gen 
erous  aspirations  of  the  age,  they  had  been  proved  unable 
5 


06  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

to  succeed  when  success  would  have  been  a  calamity  to  their 
children,  to  their  country,  and  to  the  human  race.  And 
when  the  transient  agony  of  defeat  had  been  endured  and 
passed,  they  all  experienced  a  sense  of  relief  as  they  crowded 
around  their  departing  chief,  who,  with  streaming  eyes, 
grasped  and  pressed  their  outstretched  hands,  at  length  find 
ing  words  to  say :  '  Men,  we  have  fought  through  the  war 
together.  I  have  done  the  best  that  I  could  for  you.'  There 
were  few  dry  eyes  among  those  who  witnessed  the  scene." 

Swinton,  in  his  "  Army  of  the  Potomac,"  a  book  of  con 
siderable  ability,  which,  while  making  grave  errors,  has  some 
show  of  fairness  to  the  South,  pays  frequent  and  high  tribute 
to  Lee's  ability  as  a  soldier ;  on  page  16  he  writes  as  follows : 
"  'Nor  can  there  fail  to  arise  the  image  of  that  other  army, 
that  was  the  adversary  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
which  who  can  ever  forget  that  once  looked  upon  it  ? — that 
array  of  tattered  uniforms  and  bright  muskets — that  body 
of  incomparable  infantry,  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
which  for  four  years  carried  the  revolt  on  its  bayonets,  op 
posing  a  constant  front  to  the  mighty  concentration  of  power 
brought  against  it ;  which,  receiving  terrible  blows,  did  not 
fail  to  give  the  like ;  and  which,  vital  in  all  its  parts,  died 
only  with  its  annihilation." 

If  it  be  said  that  even  the  opinions  of  Northern  writers 
are  biased  by  the  fact  that  Lee  was  an  American,  and  that 
they  really  exalt  their  own  soldiers  in  proportion  to  the  high 
estimate  they  place  on  their  great  antagonist,  we  have  only 
to  quote  from  foreign  writers,  who  may  be  supposed  to  be 
entirely  impartial. 

The  Halifax  (Nova  Scotia)  Morning  Chronicle  of  Octo 
ber  14,  1870,  contained  a  most  beautiful  tribute  to  General 
Lee,  from  which  the  following  extract  is  taken  : 

"'Ah,  Sir  Lancelot,'  he  said,  *  thou  wert  head  of  all 
Christian  knights;  and  now,  I  dare  say,'  said  Sir  Ector, 
i  thon,  Sir  Lancelot,  there  thou  liest,  that  thou  wert  never 
matched  of  earthly  knights'  hand ;  and  thou  wert  the  court- 


THE   SOLDIER. 


6? 


liest  knight  that  ever  bare  shield  ....  and  thou  wert  the 
kindest  man  that  ever  strake  with  sword ;  and  thou  wert  the 
goodliest  person  that  ever  came  among  press  of  knights ; 
and  thou  wert  the  meekest  man  and  the  gentliest  that  ever 
ate  in  hall  among  ladies  ;  and  thou  wert  the  sternest  knight 
to  thy  mortal  foe  that  ever  put  spear  in  rest.' — TJie  Mort 
cT  Arthur  of  Sir  Thomas  Malory. 

"  With  reverence  and  regret  we  repeat  to-day  Sir  Ector's 
words  of  sorrow  for  the  great  Sir  Lancelot,  and  apply  them 
to  the  man  who  died  yesterday — the  noblest  knight  of  our 
generation.  The  hero  of  the  Arthurian  legends,  as  he  lay 
dead  in  Joyous-Gard  with  the  record -of  a  life  made  splendid 
by  great  deeds,  might  have  revived  other  than  kindly  or  en 
nobling  recollections  in  the  mourner's  mind  ;  for  the  wronged 
king,  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  goodly  fellowship  of  the 
Kound  Table  could  not  be  forgotten,  but  lay  like  shadows 
upon  the  dead  knight.  But  in  the  life  of  Eobert  Edward 
Lee  there  was  no  reproach  of  man  or  woman ;  his  deeds  were 
dimmed  by  no  wrong  done  or  duty  unfulfilled ;  there  was 
no  stain  upon  his  honor,  and  no  unrighteous  blood  upon 
his  hands.  He  was,  indeed,  a  good  knight,  noble  of  heart 
and  strong  of  purpose,  and  both  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman. 
The  age  that  knew  him,  if  not  the  age  of  chivalry,  will  yet 
be  remarkable  for  having  produced  in  him  a  man  as  chival- 
ric  as  any  that  lives  in  history.  He,  too,  was  one,  and  the 
greatest  one,  of  a  goodly  fellowship  that  was  broken  up  and 
scattered  about  the  world.  Some  of  these  Southern  knights 
have  gone  before  him,  and  with  him  departs  the  last  rem 
nant  of  the  cause  for  which  they  fought  and  the  strength 
that  so  long  upheld  it. 

"  Only  nine  years  ago  he  was  a  colonel  of  cavalry  in  the 
United  States  army,  and  yesterday  he  died  the  greatest  sol 
dier  in  the  world.  Four  years'  service  in  the  field  at  the 
head  of  an  army  gained  for  him  this  reputation,  and  though 
he  was  worsted  at  the  last,  it  was  a  reputation  that  he  did  not 
lose  with  his  losses.  It  is  strong  praise  to  give  to  him,  but 


68  THE  SOLDIER. 

none  the  less  deserved,  for  even  liis  former  enemies  must 
concede  to  him  the  first  place  in  the  civil  war,  and  we  know 
of  no  living  European  general  who  possesses  to  the  same 
extent  those  attributes  of  a  soldier  which  so  distinguished 
the  Confederate  leader.  It  is  true  that  Europe  has  yet  Na 
pier,  and  McMahon,  and  Yon  Moltke,  and  that  America  has 
also  Sherman  and  Sheridan  and  Longstreet,  but  all  these 
men  and  all  their  fellow-soldiers  lack  the  grandeur  which 
was  inherent  in  Lee. 

"  In  every  particular  he  possessed  the  requisites  of  a  true 
soldier.  He  was  brave ;  his  whole  military  record  and  his 
life-long  scorn  of  danger  alike  bear  testimony  to  his  bravery. 
He  was  wise;  his  great  successes  against  great  odds,  and 
his  almost  constant  anticipation  of  the  enemy's  movements, 
were  proofs  of  his  wisdom.  He  was  skillful ;  his  forced 
marches  and  unexpected  victories  assert  his  skill.  He  was 
patient  and  unyielding  ;  his  weary  struggle  against  the  mighty 
armies  of  the  North,  and  his  stern  defense  of  Richmond,  will 
forever  preserve  the  memory  of  his  patience  and  resolution. 
He  was  gentle  and  just ;  the  soldiers  who  fought  under  him 
and  who  came  alive  out  of  the  great  fight,  remembering  and 
cherishing  the  memory  of  the  man,  can  one  and  all  testify 
to  his  gentleness  and  his  justice.  Above  all,  he  was  faithful ; 
when  he  gave  up  his  sword  there  was  no  man  in  his  own 
ranks  or  in  those  of  the  enemy  that  doubted  his  faith,  or 
believed  that  he  had  not  done  all  that  mortal  could  do  for  the 
cause  for  which  he  had  made  such  a  noble  struggle.  .  .  . 

"  His  military  genius  derives  its  most  important  proof  from 
the  fact  that,  from  the  time  of  his  appointment  to  the  posi 
tion  of  Confederate  commander-in-chief  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  the  appointment  was  never  changed.  There  were  many 
talented  and  brave  men  in  the  South — men  like  Longstreet 
and  Polk,  and  the  two  Johnstons,  and  that  one  who  took 
with  him  to  a  soldier's  grave  the  love  of  the  whole  world, 
and  the  name  of  Stonewall  Jackson.  But  there  was  only 
one  Lee,  and  to  him  the  South  knew  must  her  safety  and 


THE   SOLDIER.  69 

her  hopes  be  committed.  He  failed  to  realize  these  hopes, 
but  he  gained,  if  not  for  his  cause,  at  least  for  his  country 
and  himself,  a  glory  imperishable  and  unclouded  by  his  de 
feat.  On  the  other  hand,  the  army  of  the  North  was  com 
pelled  to  endure  a  long  succession  of  leaders,  one  as  inca 
pable  as  the  other,  until  men  of  real  worth  were  discovered 
at  last.  It  seems  incredible,  on  looking  back  to  that  war 
time,  that  Lee  should  have  held  his  own  so  long  and  so 
bravely,  when  he  was  opposed  to  ever-changing  tactics,  and 
a  force  immensely  superior  in  numbers.  Only  a  king  of 
men  could  have  possessed  such  courage  and  endurance,  and 
his  whole  life  is  a  proof  that  among  the  brotherhood  of  men 
Lee  was  indeed  a  king. 

"  When  the  last  chance  was  gone,  and  all  hope  was  at  an 
end,  the  old  hero  bowed  to  a  higher  will  than  his  own,  and  ac 
cepted  the  fate  of  the  South  with  calm  grandeur.  But  he 
was  done  with  all  his  wars.  He  could  never  take  the  field 
again ;  he  knew  that  it  was  not  for  him  to  see  the  act  of 
secession  upheld  by  the  South  and  recognized  by  the  ISTorth, 
and  after  the  failure  of  his  own  countrymen  he  was  too  old 
and  war-worn  to  draw  his  sword  in  a  foreign  quarrel.  He 
passed  from  the  fever  of  the  camp  into  the  quiet  of  the  clois 
ter,  and  as  the  President  of  Washington  College,  in  Virginia, 
spent  the  remaining  portion  of  his  sixty-three  years  in  work 
ing  for  the  good  of  his  native  State. 

"  We  cannot  express  all  the  truth  that  could  be  told  about 
Lee,  nor  can  we  do  justice  to  his  worth  and  fame,  but  per 
haps  the  few  words  of  Sir  Ector  are  the  best  after  all.  He 
was  a  good  knight,  a  true  gentleman ;  knowing  this,  let  us 
leave  him  with  fame  and  posterity ;  with  the  rest,  the  light, 
the  Resurrection  and  the  Life." 

On  the  announcement  of  the  illness  of  General  Lee,  the 
London  Standard  paid  him  a  glowing  tribute,  from  which 
the  following  extract  is  taken  : 

"Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  exist  as  to  the 
merits  of  the  generals  against  whom  he  had  to  contend,  and 


70  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

especially  of  the  antagonist  by  whom  he  was  at  last  over 
come,  no  one  pretending  to  understand  in  the  least  either  the 
general  principles  of  military  science,  or  the  particular  condi 
tions  of  the  American  war,  doubts  that  General  Lee  gave 
higher  proofs  of  military  genius  and  soldiership  than  any  of 
his  opponents.  He  was  outnumbered  from  first  to  last ;  and 
all  his  victories  were  gained  against  greatly  superior  forces, 
and  with  troops  deficient  in  every  necessary  of  war  except 
courage  and  discipline.  Never  perhaps  was  so  much  achieved 
against  odds  so  terrible.  The  Southern  soldiers — '  that  in 
comparable  Southern  infantry '  to  which  a  late  Northern 
writer  renders  due  tribute  of  respect — were  no  doubt  as 
splendid  troops  as  a  general  could  desire,  but  the  different 
fortune  of  the  war  in  the  East  and  in  the  West  proves  that 
the  Yirginian  army  owed  something  of  its  excellence  to  its 
chief.  Always  outnumbered,  always  opposed  to  a  foe  abun 
dantly  supplied  with  food,  transports,  ammunition,  clothing, 
all  that  was  wanting  to  his  own  men,  he  was  always  able  to 
make  courage  and  skill  supply  the  deficiency  of  strength 
and  of  supplies ;  and  from  the  day  when  he  assumed  the 
command  after  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines,  where  General 
Joseph  Johnston  was  disabled,  to  the  morning  of  the  final 
surrender  at  Appomattox  Court-House,  he  was  almost  invari 
ably  victorious  in  the  field.  At  Gettysburg  only  he  was  de 
feated  in  a  pitched  battle ;  on  the  offensive  at  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  at  Centreville,  and  at  Chancellorsville ;  on  the  defen 
sive  at  Antietam,  Fredericksburg,  the  Wilderness,  and  Spott- 
sylvania,  he  was  still  successful.  But  no  success  could  avail 
him  any  thing  from  the  moment  that  General  Grant  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  Virginia  army  the  inexhaustible  population 
of  the  North,  and,  employing  Sherman  to  cut  them  off  from 
the  rest  of  the  Confederacy,  set  himself  to  work  to  weai 
them  out  by  the  simple  process  of  exchanging  two  lives  for 
one.  From  that  moment  the  fate  of  Richmond  and  of  the 
South  was  sealed.  When  General  Lee  commenced  the  cam 
paign  of  the  Wilderness  he  had,  we  believe,  about  fifty  thou- 


THE  SOLDIER.  71 

sand  men — his  adversary  had  thrice  that  number  at  hand,  and 
a  still  larger  force  in  reserve.  When  the  Army  of  Virginia 
marched  out  of  Richmond  it  still  numbered  some  twenty-six 
thousand  men ;  after  a  retreat  of  six  days,  in  the  face  of  an 
overwhelming  enemy,  with  a  crushing  artillery — a  retreat 
impeded  by  constant  fighting,  and  harassed  by  countless 
hordes  of  cavalry — eight  thousand  were  given  up  by  the  ca 
pitulation  of  Appomattox  Court-House.  Brilliant  as  were 
General  Lee's  earlier  triumphs,  we  believe  that  he  gave  high 
er  proofs  of  genius  in  his  last  campaign,  and  that  hardly  any 
of  his  victories  were  so  honorable  to  himself  and  his  army  as 
that  six  days'  retreat." 

The  Montreal  (Canada)  Tdegrapk  published  during  the 
war  the  following,  which  not  a  few  intelligent  foreigners 
will  heartily  indorse  : 

"  Posterity  will  rank  General  Lee  above  Wellington  or 
Napoleon,  before  Saxe  or  Turenne,  above  Marlborough  or 
Frederick,  before  Alexander  or  Csesar.  Careful  of  the  lives 
of  his  men,  fertile  in  resource,  a  profound  tactician,  gifted 
with  the  swift  intuition  which  enables  a  commander  to  dis 
cern  the  purpose  of  his  enemy,  and  the  power  of  rapid  com 
bination  which  enables  him  to  oppose  to  it  a  prompt  resist 
ance  ;  modest,  frugal,  self-denying,  void  of  arrogance  or  self- 
assertion,  trusting  nothing  to  chance ;  among  men  noble  as 
the  noblest,  in  the  lofty  dignity  of  the  Christian  gentleman  ; 
among  patriots  less  self-seeking,  and  as  pure  as  Washington ; 
.and  among  soldiers  combining  the  religious  simplicity  of 
Havelock  with  the  genius  of  ISTapoleon,  the  heroism  of  Bay 
ard  and  Sidney,  and  the  untiring,  never-faltering  duty  of 
Wellington:  in  fact,  Robert  E.  Lee,  of  Virginia,  is  the 
greatest  general  of  this  or  any  other  age.  He  has  made  his 
own  name,  and  the  Confederacy  he  served,  immortal." 

Colonel  Charles  Cornwallis  Chesney,  the  reputed  author 
of  the  "  Battle  of  Dorking,"  and  perhaps  the  most  distin 
guished  of  the  English  military  critics,  has  recently  published 
a  volume  of  "  Military  Biography,"  from  which  we  take  the 
following  extracts : 


72  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

" .  .  .  .  Lee's  first  battle,  in  fact,  was  as  striking  a  suc 
cess,  and  as  well  earned,  as  any  of  the  more  famous  victories 
in  after-days  which  have  been  so  widely  studied  and  so  often 
extolled.  !N"o  word  henceforward  from  his  Government  of 
any  want  of  confidence  in  his  powers,  or  fear  of  his  over- 
caution.  From  that  hour  he  became  the  most  trusted,  as 
well  as  the  most  noted,  general  of  the  Confederacy.  As  to 
his  soldiery,  his  hardy  bearing,  free  self -exposure,  and  con 
stant  presence  near  their  ranks,  completed  the  influence 
gained  by  that  power  of  combining  their  force  to  advantage 
which  they  instinctively  felt  without  fully  understanding. 
From  man  to  man  flew  the  story  of  the  hour.  The  subtile 
influence  of  sympathy,  which  wins  many  hearts  for  one,  was 
never  more  rapidly  exercised.  Like  Napoleon,  his  troops 
soon  learned  to  believe  him  equal  to  every  emergency  that 
war  could  bring.  Like  Hannibal,  he  could  speak  lightly  and 
calmly  at  the  gravest  moments,  being  then  himself  least 
grave.  Like  Raglan,  he  preserved  a  sweetness  of  temper 
that  no  person  or  circumstance  could  ruffle.  Like  Caesar,  he 
mixed  with  the  crowd  of  soldiery  freely,  and  never  feared 
that  his  position  would  be  forgotten.  Like  Blucher,  his  one 
recognized  fault  was  that  which  the  soldier  readily  forgives — 
a  readiness  to  expose  his  life  beyond  the  proper  limits  permit 
ted  by  modern  war  to  the  cominander-in-chief.  "What  won 
der,  then,  if  he  thenceforward  commanded  an  army  in  which 
each  man  would  have  died  for  him ;  an  army  from  which 
his  parting  wrung  tears  more  bitter  than  any  the  fall  of  their 
cause  could  extort ;  an  army  which  followed  him,  after  three 
years  of  glorious  vicissitudes,  into  private  life  without  one 
thought  of  further  resistance  against  the  fate  to  which  theii 
adored  chief  yielded  without  a  murmur  ?  " 

He  thus  speaks  of  the  dark  days  of  the  winter  of  186^ 
'65:  .  .  . 

"  Not  in  the  first  flush  of  triumph  when  his  army  cheered 
his  victory  over  McClellan  ;  not  when  hurling  back  Federal 
masses  three  times  the  weight  of  his  own  on  the  banks  of  the 


THE   SOLDIER.  73 

Rappaliannock ;  nor  even  when  advancing,  the  commander 
of  victorious  legions,  to  carry  the  war  away  from  his  loved 
Virginia  into  the  North,  had  Lee  seemed  so  great,  or  won  the 
love  of  his  soldiers  so  closely,  as  through  the  dark  winter  that 
followed.  Overworked  his  men  were  sadly,  with  forty  miles 
of  intrenchments  for  that  weakened  army  to  guard.  Then- 
prospects  were  increasingly  gloomy  as  month  passed  by  after 
month,  bringing  them  no  reinforcements,  while  their  enemy 
became  visibly  stronger.  Their  rations  grew  scantier  and 
poorer,  while  the  jocund  merriment  of  the  investing  lines 
told  of  abundance  often  raised  to  luxury  by  voluntary  tribute 
from  the  wealth  of  the  North.  The  indiscipline,  too  long  al 
lowed,  told  on  them ;  and,  with  the  pangs  of  hunger  added, 
led  to  desertion,  formerly  almost  unknown  in  the  Army  of 
Virginia.  But  the  confidence  of  the  men  in  their  beloved 
chief  never  faltered.  Their  sufferings  were  never  laid  on 
'  Uncle  Robert.'  The  simple  piety  which  all  knew  the  rule 
of  his  life,  acted  upon  thousands  of  those  under  him  with  a 
power  which  those  can  hardly  understand  who  know  not  how 
community  of  hope,  suffering,  and  danger,  fairly  shared,  amid 
the  vicissitudes  of  war,  quickens  the  sympathies  of  the  rough 
est  and  lowest  as  well  as  of  those  above  them.  He  wrho  was 
known  to  every  soldier  under  him  to  have  forbidden  his  staff 
to  disturb  the  impromptu  prayer-meeting  which  stopped  their 
way  when  hurrying  to  the  fierce  battle  in  the  Wilderness  ;  he 
whose  exposure  was  seen  by  all  to  grow  only  greater  as  the 
hour  grew  darker  ;  he  who  was  as  constant  in  the  lines  during 
the  monotonous  watch  against  the  foe  that  never  attacked  as 
he  had  been  when  Grant  hurled  fresh  legions  on  him  day 
after  day  in  the  blood-stained  thickets  of  Spottsylvania ;  he 
who,  in  short,  had  long  lived  up  to  the  motto  he  had  com 
mended  to  his  son  on  entering  life,  as  the  only  sure  guide, 
1  Duty  is  the  sublimest  word  in  our  language ; '  now  illus 
trated  in  his  own  person  that  other  motto  which  he  be 
queathed  to  the  army  when  it  dissolved,  <  Human  virtue 
should  be  equal  to  human  calamity.'  The  vision  of  becoming 


74      REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

the  new  Washington  of  a  new  republic — had  he  ever  enter 
tained  it — had  faded  away  with  all  its  natural  ambition.  The 
very  hope  of  saving  from  humiliation  the  State  for  whose 
safety  and  honor  he  had  sacrificed  his  high  prospects  in  the 
army  of  the  Union,  must  now  be  despaired  of.  Yet  the  firm 
ness  of  his  bearing,  and  his  unfaltering  attention  to  the  hourly 
business  of  his  office,  never  declined  for  a  moment,  and  im 
pressed  alike  the  f ailing  Government  of  the  Confederacy,  the 
dejected  citizens  of  its  capital,  and  the  humblest  soldiers  of  its 
army." 

He  thus  closes  his  honest  soldier's  tribute  to  the  great  Con 
federate  chieftain :  .  .  . 

"So  passed  away  the  greatest  victim  of  the  civil  war. 
Even  in  the  farthest  North,  where  he  had  once  been  execrated 
as  the  worst  enemy  of  the  Union,  the  tidings  caused  a  thrill 
of  regret.  But  though  America  has  learned  to  pardon,  she 
has  yet  to  attain  the  full  reconciliation  for  which  the  dead  hero 
would  have  sacrificed  a  hundred  lives.  Time  can  only  bring 
this  to  a  land  which  in  her  agony  bled  at  every  pore.  Time, 
the  healer  of  all  wounds,  will  bring  it  yet.  The  day  will  come 
when  the  evil  passions  of  the  great  civil  strife  will  sleep  in 
oblivion,  and  North  and  South  do  justice  to  each  other's  mo 
tives,  and  forget  each  other's  wrongs.  Then  history  will  speak 
with  clear  voice  of  the  deeds  done  on  either  side,  and  the  citi 
zens  of  the  whole  Union  do  justice  to  the  memories  of  the 
dead,  and  place  above  all  others  the  name  of  the  great  chief 
of  whom  we  have  written.  In  strategy  mighty,  in  battle  ter 
rible,  in  adversity  as  in  prosperity  a  hero  indeed,  with  the  sim 
ple  devotion  to  duty  and  the  rare  purity  of  the  ideal  Christian 
knight,  he  joined  all  the  kingly  qualities  of  a  leader  of  men. 

"  It  is  a  wondrous  future  indeed  that  lies  before  Amer 
ica  ;  but  in  her  annals  of  years  to  come,  as  in  those  of  the 
past,  there  will  be  found  few  names  that  can  rival  in  unsullied 
lustre  that  of  the  heroic  defender  of  his  native  Virginia, 
Eobert  Edward  Lee." 

Another  English  soldier — Colonel  Lawler — who  visited 


THE  SOLDIER.  75 

General  Lee  at  his  headquarters  during  the  war,  and  con 
ceived  the  warm  admiration  for  him  of  every  one  who  came 
into  personal  contact  with  him,  thus  wrote  in  Blackwootfs 
Magazine : 

"  One  of  England's  greatest  soldiers,  Sir  Charles  James 
]S"apier,  exclaims,  '  How  much  more  depends  upon  the 
chief  than  upon  the  numbers  of  an  army  !  Alexander  in 
vaded  Persia  with  only  thirty  thousand  foot  and  five  thou 
sand  horse;  Hannibal  entered  Italy  with  twenty  thousand 
foot  and  six  thousand  horse,  having  lost  thirty  thousand 
men  in  crossing  the  Alps.  What  did  he  attempt  with  this 
small  army?  The  conquest  of  Italy  from  the  Romans, 
wrho  with  their  allies  could  bring  into  the  field  eight  hun 
dred  thousand  men  in  arms;  and  he  maintained  the  war 
there  for  fifteen  years.'  Without  maintaining  that  General 
Lee,  who  was  neither  an  Alexander  nor  a  Hannibal,  had 
such  odds  against  him  as  these  two  great  captains  of  ancient 
history,  we  doubt  whether  any  general  of  modern  history 
ever  sustained  for  four  years — a  longer  time  nowadays  than 
Hannibal's  fifteen  years  in  the  remote  past — a  war  in  which, 
while  disposing  of  scanty  resources  himself,  he  had  against 
him  so  enormous  an  aggregate  of  men,  horses,  ships,  and 
supplies.  It  is  an  under  rather  than  over  estimate  of  the  re 
spective  strength  of  the  two  sections  to  state  that  during  the 
first  two  years  the  odds,  all  told,  were  ten  to  one,  during  the 
last  two  twenty  to  one,  against  the  Confederates.  The  pro 
longation  of  the  struggle  is  in  no  slight  degree  attributed  to 
Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  whose  high  character  and  unselfishness 
are,  even  now,  undervalued  by  Confederates,  and  totally 
denied  by  his  conquerors.  The  courage  of  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  rebel  army  is  refreshing  to  contemplate  in  these  days, 
which  have  seen  a  European  war  between  two  nations  equal 
in  numbers  and  resources  triumphantly  closed  in  seven 
months,  and  stained  by  the  three  unprecedented  capitula 
tions  of  Sedan,  Metz,  and  Paris.  But,  after  all,  the  one 
name  which,  in  connection  with  the  great  American  Civil 


7G      REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

War,  posteris  narratwn  atque  tradition  superstes  erit,  is  the 
name  of  Robert  Edward  Lee." 

He  concludes  his  criticism  by  saying  : 

"  The  fame  and  character  of  General  Lee  will  hereafter 
be  regarded  in  Europe  and  in  America  under  a  dual  aspect. 
In  Europe  we  shall  consider  him  merely  as  a  soldier ;  and  it 
is  more  than  probable  that  within  the  present  century  we 
shall  have  accustomed  ourselves  to  regard  him  as  third  upon 
the  list  of  English-speaking  generals,  and  as  having  been  sur 
passed  in  soldierly  capacity  by  Marlborough  and  Wellington 
alone.  In  America,  when  the  passions  of  the  great  Civil 
"War  shall  have  died  out,  Lee  will  be  regarded  more  as  a  man 
than  as  a  soldier.  His  infinite  purity,  self-denial,  tenderness, 
and  generosity,  will  make  his  memory  more  and  more  pre 
cious  to  his  countrymen  when  they  have  purged  their  minds 
of  the  prejudices  and  animosities  which  civil  war  invariably 
breeds.  They  will  acknowledge  before  long  that  Lee  took  no 
step  in  life  except  in  accordance  with  what  he  regarded  as, 
and  believed  to  be,  his  duty." 

The  London  Times,  in  an  able  review  of  Colonel  Ches- 
ney's  book,  after  an  extended  notice  of  Grant,  concludes  as 
follows : 

"  This  determined  soldier  is  not,  however — and  Colonel 
Chesney  agrees  with  our  judgment — to  be  compared  with 
his  greatest  opponent,  in  the  highest  attainments  of  the  milita 
ry  art ;  and  as  Hannibal,  notwithstanding  Zama,  towers  over 
the  very  inferior  Scipio,tthe  figure  of  Lee  eclipses  Grant, 
though  Lee  succumbed  to  the  Northern  chief.  Colonel  Ches 
ney 's  essay  on  the  brilliant  career  of  the  renowned  leader  of 
the  Virginian  army  is  too  short  to  do  the  theme  justice,  but 
it  is  very  attractive  and  full  of  interest.  We  have  no  space 
to  notice  the  pleasing  description  he  has  given  us  of  the  pri 
vate  life  of  Lee,  nor  yet  to  comment  on  the  public  virtues  of 
the  high-minded  citizen  who  drew  his  sword  reluctantly  in 
what  he  thought  the  rightful  cause,  and  bore  himself  like  a 
true  patriot  when  reproach  and  disaster  gathered  around 


THE   SOLDIER.  77 

• 

him.  A  few  words  are  all  that  we  can  devote  to  the  mili 
tary  powers  of  this  great  captain  ;  and  they  are,  indeed,  su 
perfluous,  for  their  best  monument  is  the  battle-fields  of  the 
American  War.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  Lee  has  a 
place  in  the  foremost  rank  of  modern  strategists;  he  pos 
sessed  in  the  very  highest  degree  ability  for  the  great  opera 
tions  of  war ;  few  generals  have  ever,  in  Colonel  Hamley's 
phrase,  i interpreted  the  theatre'  with  equal  insight  and 
known  as  well  how  to  turn  it  to  account ;  and  no  one  certain 
ly  since  the  time  of  Napoleon  has  conquered  against  such 
immense  odds,  and  has  so  long  and  fiercely  disputed  the 
prize  of  victory  with  failing  resources.  His  combinations, 
indeed,  bear  a  striking  resemblance  in  many  particulars  to 
those  of  the  emperor ;  like  him,  he  gained  astonishing  suc 
cess  by  the  well-planned  use  of  interior  lines  and  bold  move 
ments  against  divided  foes ;  like  him,  he  avoided  the  timid 
system  of  passive  defense  as  a  general  rule,  and  seemed  the 
assailant,  though  on  the  defensive  ;  like  him,  he  possessed  a 
fund  of  resources  in  his  own  genius  which  effected  wonders  ; 
like  him,  too,  he  was  swift  and  terible  in  availing  himself  of 
the  mistakes  of  an  enemy.  Thus  it  has  happened  that  his 
campaigns  have  much  in  common  with  those  of  Napoleon, 
and  fascinate  the  reader  for  the  same  reasons.  They  ex 
hibit  the  triumph  of  profound  intelligence,  of  calculation, 
and  of  well-employed  force  over  numbers,  slowness,  and  dis 
united  counsels,  like  those  of  1T96  and  1814  ;  and  his  victory 
on  the  Chickahominy  in  1862,  and  the  outmanoeuvring  of 
Grant  in  1864,  may  fitly  compare  with  Arcola  or  Rivoli  and 
with  the  immortal  struggle  on  the  Marne  and  Seine.  Lee, 
too,  has  never  been  surpassed  in  the  art  of  winning  the  pas 
sionate  love  of  his  troops,  and,  as  with  all  generals  of  a  high 
order,  his  lieutenants  looked  up  to  him  with  perfect  confi 
dence,  and  saw  in  his  commands  a  presage  of  victory." 

The  following  inscription  and  poem  accompanied  the  pre 
sentation  of  a  perfect  copy  of  the  "  Translation  of  the  Iliad 
of  Homer,  into  Spenserian  Stanza,"  by  Philip  Stanhope 


78  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

Worsley,  Fellow  of  Corpus  Christ!  College,  Oxford  —  a  scholar 
and  poet  whose  untimely  death,  noticed  with  deepest  regret 
throughout  the  literary  world  in  England,  has  cut  short  a  ca 
reer  of  the  brightest  promise  : 

"  To  General  E.  E.  Lee  —  the  most  stainless  of  living  com 
manders,  and,  except  in  fortune,  the  greatest  —  this  volume 
is  presented  with  the  writer's  earnest  sympathy,  and  respect 
ful  admiration  : 


'"  .  .  .  olof  yap  epbeT 

Iliad,  vi.,  403. 

"  The  grand  old  bard  that  never  dies, 

Receive  him  in  our  English  tongue  I 
I  send  thee,  but  with  weeping  eyes, 
The  story  that  he  sung. 

"  Thy  Troy  is  fallen,  thy  dear  land 

Is  marred  beneath  the  spoiler's  heel. 
I  cannot  trust  my  trembling  hand 
To  write  the  things  I  feel. 

"  Ah,  realm  of  tombs  !  —  but  let  her  bear 

This  blazon  to  the  last  of  times  : 
Xo  nation  rose  so  white  and  fair, 
Or  fell  so  pure  of  crimes. 

"  The  widow's  moan,  the  orphan's  wail, 

Come  round  thea  ;  yet  in  truth  be  strong  I 
Eternal  right,  though  all  else  fail, 
Can  never  be  made  wrong. 

"  An  angel's  heart,  an  angel's  mouth, 
Not  Homer's,  could  alone  for  me 
Hymn  well  the  great  Confederate  South, 
Virginia  first,  and  LEE. 

"P.  S.  W." 

Professor  George  Long,  of  England—  the  great  scholar  and 
high-toned  gentleman  —  has,  in  a  note  to  the  second  edition 
of  his  translation  of  the  "  Thoughts  of  the  Emperor  M.  Au- 
relius  Antoninus,"  the  following  graceful  tribute  :"...! 
have  never  dedicated  a  book  to  any  man,  and  if  I  dedicated 


THE  SOLDIER.  79 

this  I  should  choose  the  man  whose  name  seemed  to  me  most 
worthy  to  be  joined  to  that  of  the  Roman  soldier  and  philos 
opher.  I  might  dedicate  the  book  to  the  successful  general 
who  is  now  President  of  the  United  States,  with  the  hope 
that  his  integrity  and  justice  will  restore  peace  and  happiness, 
so  far  as  he  can,  to  those  unhappy  States  who  have  suffered 
so  much  from  war,  and  the  unrelenting  hostility  of  wicked 
men.  But  as  the  Roman  poet  said,  '  Victrix  causa  deis  pla- 
cuit,  sed  victa  Catoni ; '  and  if  I  dedicated  this  little  book  to 
any  man,  I  would  dedicate  it  to  him  who  led  the  Confederate 
armies  against  the  powerful  invader,  and  retired  from  an 
unequal  contest  defeated,  but  not  dishonored ;  to  the  noble 
Virginian  soldier,  whose  talents  and  virtues  place  him  by  the 
side  of  the  best  and  wisest  man  who  sat  on  the  throne  of  the 
imperial  Csesars." 

If  such  is  the  opinion  of  disinterested  foreign  critics  (who 
have  been  compelled  to  receive  their  information  in  large 
measure  through  Northern  sources,  and  who  have  not  been 
able,  therefore,  to  do  full  justice  to  his  transcendent  abilities), 
we  cannot  doubt  that  the  future  historian,  when  he  scans  care 
fully  all  of  the  facts,  will  rank  our  noble  chief  the  peer,  if  not 
the  superior,  of  any  soldier  of  either  ancient  or  modern  times 
— that  the  world  will  one  day  indorse  the  estimate  of  the 
London  Standard,  "  A  country  which  has  given  birth  to  men 
like  him,  and  those  who  followed  him,  may  look  the  chivalry 
of  Europe  in  the  face  without  shame  ;  for  the  fatherlands  of 
Sidney  and  of  Bayard  never  produced  a  nobler  soldier,  gen 
tleman,  and  Christian,  than  General  ROBERT  E.  LEE." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    COLLEGE    PRESIDENT. 

AMONG  nay  most  cherished  "  personal  reminiscences "  of 
this  great  man  are  those  last  years  of  his  life  at  Lexington, 
when  he  toiled  for  the  young  men  of  the  country  as  the  quiet 
but  able  and  laborious  President  of  "Washington  College. 

But,  instead  of  my  own  recollections  of  how  grandly  he 
accomplished  his  work,  I  deem  myself  fortunate  in  being  per 
mitted  to  present  papers  prepared  by  two  members  of  the  able 
and  accomplished  Faculty  which  General  Lee  called  around 
him.  The  following  sketch  was  (at  the  request  of  the  Faculty) 
written  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  L.  Kirkpatrick  for  the  projected 
"  Memorial  Yolume,"  and  the  MS.  has  been  kindly  placed  at 
my  disposal.  It  is  given  (without  essential  abridgment)  as 
a  deeply  interesting,  accurate,  and  authorized  account  of  his 
career  as  a  college  president : 

"  In  the  sketch  which  follows,  nothing  further  will  be  at 
tempted  than  a  brief  and  simple  exhibition  of  that  portion  of 
General  Lee's  life  which  was  passed  at  Washington  College, 
and  of  this  only  as  it  relates  to  his  official  work  as  president 
of  that  institution. 

"  SOME    INCIDENTS    IN   THE    HISTORY   OF   THE   COLLEGE. 

"Washington  College  is  the  outgrowth  of  an  academy 
founded  in  the  year  1749.  This  was  the  first  classical  school 
opened  in  the  Yalley  of  Virginia.  Under  a  succession  of 
principals,  and  with  several  changes  of  site,  the  academy  at 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  31 

length  acquired  such  a  reputation  as  to  attract  the  attention 
of  General  Washington,  from  whom  it  received  a  munificent 
endowment,  and  its  subsequent  name.  The  endowment  was 
the  gift  of  one  hundred  shares  of  what  was  known  as  the 
'  Old  James  River  Company,'  tendered  him  by  the  Legisla 
ture  of  Yirginia,  and  accepted  by  him  on  the  condition  that 
he  should  be  allowed  to  appropriate  it  '  to  some  public  pur 
pose  in  the  upper  part  of  the  State,  such  as  the  education  of 
the  children  of  the  poor,  particularly  of  such  as  have  fallen  in 
the  defense  t)f  their  country.'  This  fact  in  the  history  of  the 
institution  is  believed  to  have  had  no  small  influence  on  the 
mind  of  General  Lee,  in  disposing  him  to  accept  its  presi 
dency,  and  in  prompting  him  to  the  measures  which  he  in 
augurated  for  its  further  endowment  and  usefulness.  His 
profound  veneration  for  the  character  and  his  desire  to  per 
petuate  the  deeds  and  virtues  of  "Washington  were  a  controll 
ing  impulse  of  his  own  moral  nature. 

"  At  the  time  of  General  Lee's  accession  to  the  presidency, 
the  college  had,  through  the  calamities  of  the  civil  war, 
reached  the  lowest  point  of  depression  it  had  ever  known. 
In  addition  to  the  calamities  common  to  the  whole  country, 
against  which  it  manfully  struggled  until  further  effort  was 
shown  to  be  unavailing,  it  suffered  during  the  war  the  spolia 
tion  of  its  buildings,  library,  and  apparatus,  at  the  hands  of  a 
hostile  soldiery  left  free  to  sack  and  plunder  at  their  pleasure ; 
and,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  through  the  impoverishment  of 
the  State  and  the  country,  its  invested  funds  were  rendered 
unproductive,  with  the  gravest  uncertainty  as  to  their  ulti 
mate  value.  Four  professors  remained  at  their  post,  and 
about  forty  students  were  gathered,  chiefly  from  the  region 
contiguous  to  the  college. 

"  In  such  a  state  of  affairs  and  with  such  prospects,  it 
seemed  a  bold  if  not  a  presumptuous  step  to  invite  General 
Lee  to  assume  the  headship  of  the  institution.  So  it  im 
pressed  the  minds  of  the  people  at  large.  There  was  a  gen 
eral  expectation  that  he  would  decline  the  position — as  not 
6 


82  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

sufficiently  lucrative,  if  his  purpose  was  to  repair  the  ruins 
to  his  private  fortunes  resulting  from  the  war  ;  as  not  lifting 
him  conspicuously  enough  in  the  public  gaze,  if  he  was  am 
bitious  of  office  or  further  distinction ;  or  as  involving  too 
great  labor  and  anxiety,  if  he  coveted  repose  after  the  terri 
ble  content  from  which  he  had  just  emerged. 

"  As  far  as  it  is  now  known,  the  person  first  to  suggest  an 
effort  to  obtain  the  services  of  General  Lee  for  the  vacant 
presidency  was  the  Hon.  Bolivar  Christian,  of  Staunton,  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  He  mentioned  the  sub 
ject  to  some  coniidential  friends  near  him,  one  of  whom  wrote 
to  General  Lee,  then  in  Cumberland  County,  where  with  his 
family  he  had  made  a  home  for  the  time.  Owing  to  the  defi 
ciencies  in  the  mail  facilities,  the  answer  which  was  expected 
to  this  letter  did  not  reach  Staunton  until  after  Colonel 
Christian  had  left  home  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  convened  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  president. 
The  answer  had  been  written  and  mailed,  and  such  was  its 
tenor  that,  had  it  been  received  in  due  time,  it  is  almost  cer 
tain  the  thought  of  securing  General  Lee  for  the  college 
would  have  been  abandoned  as  hopeless.  The  Board  as 
sembled,  and  Colonel  Christian  proposed  Generel  Lee  for 
the  presidency.  The  proposition,  received  at  first  with  sur 
prise,  was  weighed  long  and  anxiously  by  the  body ;  not,  of 
course,  that  there  was  any  hesitaton  as  to  the  desirableness  of 
obtaining  his  services,  or  that  there  was  any  other  man 
whom  any  member  would  have  preferred  for  the  place ;  but 
in  view  of  the  probabilities  of  a  failure,  should  the  effort  be 
made,  and  of  the  effect  of  such  failure  on  the  interests  of  the 
college.  Besides,  the  accession  of  General  Lee  to  the  presi 
dency  would  carry  with  it  extensive  modifications  of  the 
scheme  of  instruction  as  previously  in  operation,  and  these 
would  demand  an  enlargement  of  the  resources  of  the  insti 
tution  which,  in  the  existing  condition  of  the  country,  it 
might  have  seemed  mere  rashness  to  attempt  to  provide. 
But  the  Board  had  faith  in  the  Providence  which,  as  they  in- 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  S3 

terpreted  its  signs,  pointed  to  General  Lee  for  the  position, 
had  faith  in  the  man  himself,  and  in  the  disposition  of  our 
people  toward  an  institution  with  which  he  should  be  so 
prominently  associated.  Among  other  proceedings  of  the 
body,  bearing  the  date  August  4,  1865,  appears  this  simple 
record :  '  The  order  of  the  day  was  resumed,  and  General 
Robert  E.  Lee,  being  put  in  nomination  by  Mr.  Christian^ 
was  unanimously  chosen  president.'  The  Hon.  John  "W. 
Brockenbrough,  the  rector  of  the  Board,  was  appointed  by 
the  body  to  convey  in  person  to  General  Lee  the  notification 
of  his  election,  and  lay  before  him  such  information  respect 
ing  the  history  of  the  college,  its  existing  condition  and  future 
plans,  as  he  might  desire  to  possess.  The  mission  was  one 
grateful  to  the  feelings  of  the  distinguished  gentleman  to 
whom  it  was  intrusted,  and  was  discharged  with  promptness, 
ability,  and  success. 

"  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  modesty  which  was  a 
ruling  characteristic  of  General  Lee  in  all  the  positions  he 
was  called  to  occupy,  and  with  his  thorough  conscientiousness, 
will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  he  was,  at  first,  strongly  disin 
clined  to  accept  the  appointment,  which,  as  already  intimated, 
he  had  wished  to  arrest,  and  probably  supposed  he  had  ar 
rested,  in  its  inception.  Nor  will  they  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  grounds  of  his  reluctance  were  wholly  different 
from  those  which  strangers  to  his  true  character,  judging 
him  by  the  standard  applicable  to  men  generally,  would  have 
assigned  as  the  cause  of  his  hesitancy.  These  grounds  are 
explicitly  set  forth  in  his  letter  of  acceptance,  which,  as  being 
of  much  interest  to  others  as  well  as  to  the  authorities  of  the 
college,  is  here  given  at  length  : 

"'POWHATAN  COUNTY,  August  24,  1865. 

"' GENTLEMEN:  I  have  delayed  for  some  days  replying  to 
your  letter  of  the  5th  inst.,  informing  me  of  my  election,  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  to  the  presidency  of  Washington  College, 
from  a  desire  to  give  the  subject  due  consideration.  Fully  im 
pressed  with  the  responsibilities  of  the  office,  I  have  feared  that 


84  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

I  should  be  unable  to  discharge  its  duties  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  trustees,  or  to  the  benefit  of  the  country.  The  proper  edu 
cation  of  youth  requires  not  only  great  ability,  but,  I  fear,  more 
strength  than  I  now  possess,  for  I  do  not  feel  able  to  undergo 
the  labor  of  conducting  classes  in  regular  courses  of  instruction  ; 
I  could  not  therefore  undertake  more  than  the  general  adminis 
tration  and  supervision  of  the  institution.  There  is  another 
subject  which  has  caused  me  serious  reflection,  and  is,  I  think, 
worthy  of  the  consideration  of  the  Board.  Being  excluded 
from  the  terms  of  amnesty  in  the  proclamation  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  cf  the  29th  of  May  last,  and  an  object  of 
censure  to  a  portion  of  the  country,  I  have  thought  it  probable 
that  my  occupation  of  the  position  of  president  might  draw 
upon  the  college  a  feeling  of  hostility ;  and  I  should  therefore 
cause  injury  to  an  institution  which  it  would  be  my  highest 
desire  to  advance.  I  think  it  the  duty  of  every  citizen,  in  the 
present  condition  of  the  country,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  aid 
in  the  restoration  of  peace  and  harmony,  and  in  no  way  to 
oppose  the  policy  of  the  State  or  General  Government,  directed 
to  that  object.  It  is  particularly  incumbent  on  those  charged 
with  the  instruction  of  the  young  to  set  them  an  example  of 
submission  to  authority,  and  I  could  not  consent  to  be  the  cause 
of  animadversion  upon  the  college. 

"  c  Should  you,  however,  take  a.  different  view,  and  think  that 
my  services  in  the  position  tendered  to  me  by  the  Board  will 
be  advantageous  to  the  college  and  country,  I  will  yield-  to 
^our  judgment,  and  accept  it ;  otherwise  I  must  most  respect 
fully  decline  the  office. 

"  '  Begging  you  to  express  to  the  trustees  of  the  college  my 
heart-felt  gratitude  for  the  honor  conferred  upon  me,  and  request 
ing  you  to  accept  my  cordial  thanks  for  the  kind  manner  in 
which  you  have  communicated  their  decision,  I  am,  gentlemen, 
with  great  respect, 

"  *  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  '  R.  E.  LEE. 

" '  Messrs.  JOHN  W.  BROCKENBROUGH,  Rector ;  S.  McD. 

REID;  ALFRED  LEYBURN;  HORATIO  THOMPSON,  D.D.,  }•  Committee.'1 
BOLIVAR  CHRISTIAN  ;  T.  J.  KIRKPATRICK, 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  85 

"  As  still  further  exhibiting  the  state  of  mind  and  views 
with  which  General  Lee  accepted  the  position  tendered  to 
him,  an  extract  will  be  here  made  from  an  address  on  the 
occasion  of  his  death,  by  Bishop  "Wilmer,  of  Louisiana,  at  the 
(  University  of  the  South,'  Sewannee,  Tennessee,  where  the 
bishop  received  the  sad  intelligence.  The  address  is  a  most 
beautiful  and  touching  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  whom 
the  author  loved  as  a  personal  friend,  as  well  as  admired  for 
his  exalted  virtues.  Space  can  be  obtained  for  only  one  pas-' 
sage  directly  pertinent  to  the  subject  in  hand,  the  use  now 
made  of  which,  it  is  hoped,  the  author  will'  readily  pardon ; 
as  also  a  remark  it  seems  proper  to  connect  with  the  quota 
tion,  namely,  that  those  who  had  enjoyed  fuller  opportuni 
ties  than  he  had  probably  possessed,  for  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  Washington  College,  prior  to  the  recent 
change  in  its  circumstances,  will  be  disposed  to  claim  for  it  a 
somewhat  higher  position  among  the  institutions  of  learning 
in  the  country  than  his  language  would  indicate  that  he  had 
done. 

" '  I  was  seated,'  says  Bishop  Wilmer,  i  at  the  close  of  the 
day,  in  my  Virginia  home,  when  I  beheld,  through  the  thick 
ening  shades  of  evening,  a  horseman  entering  the  yard,  whom 
I  soon  recognized  as  General  Lee.  The  next  morning  he 
placed  in  my  hands  the  correspondence  with  the  authorities 
of  Washington  College  at  Lexington.  He  had  been  invited 
to  become  president  of  that  institution.  I  confess  to  a  mo 
mentary  feeling  of  chagrin  at  the  proposed  change  (shall  I 
say  revulsion  f)  in  his  history.  The  institution  was  one  of 
local  interest,  and  comparatively  unknown  to  our  people.  I 
named  others  more  conspicuous  which  would  welcome  him 
with  ardor  as  their  presiding  head.  I  soon  discovered  that 
his  mind  towered  above  these  earthly  distinctions ;  that,  in 
his  judgment,  the  cause  gave  dignity  to  the  institution,  and 
not  the  wealth  of  its  endowment,  or  the  renown  of  its  schol 
ars  ;  that  this  door  and  not  another  was  opened  to  him  by 
Providence ;  and  he  only  wished  to  be  assured  of  his  compe- 


80  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

tency  to  fulfill  the  trust,  and  thus  to  make  his  few  remaining 
years  a  comfort  and  blessing  to  his  suffering  country.  I  had 
spoken  to  his  human  feelings ;  he  had  now  revealed  himself 
to  me  as  one  "  whose  life  was  hid  writh  Christ  in  God."  My 
speech  was  no  longer  restrained.  I  congratulated  him  that 
his  heart  was  inclined  to  this  great  cause,  and  that  he  was 
spared  to  give  to  the  world  this  august  testimony  to  the 
importance  of  Christian  education.  How  he  listened  to  my 
feeble  words ;  how  he  beckoned  me  to  his  side,  as  the  full 
ness  of  heart  found  utterance ;  how  his  whole  countenance 
glowed  with  animation  as  I  spoke  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the 
great  Teacher,  whose  presence  was  required  to  make  educa 
tion  a  blessing,  which  otherwise  might  be  the  curse  of  man 
kind  ;  how  feelingly  he  responded,  how  eloquently r,  as  I  nev 
er  heard  him  speak  before — can  never  be  effaced  from  mem 
ory  ;  and  nothing  more  sacred  mingles  with  my  reminis 
cences  of  the  dead.' 

"  The  Board  of  Trustees  having  notified  to  General  Lee 
their  entire  and  cordial  agreement  with  him  in  the  sentiments 
he  had  expressed  in  his  letter  of  conditional  acceptance,  with 
respect  to  the  duties  of  those  charged  with  the  instruction 
of  the  young  in  the  existing  condition  of  the  country,  and 
their  opinion  that  his  personal  relations  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  did  not  constitute  any  obstacle  to  the  pros 
perity  of  the  college,  General  Lee  at  once  prepared  to  enter 
on  the  duties  of  the  office  to  which  he  was  chosen.  Accord 
ingly,  on  the  2d  of  October  (1865),  in  the  presence  of  the  trus 
tees,  professors,  and  students  then  on  the  ground,  after  solemn 
and  appropriate  prayer  by  the  Rev.  W.  S.  White,  D.  D.,  the 
oldest  Christian  minister  of  the  town,  he  took  the  oath  of 
office  as  required  by  the  laws  of  the  college,  and  was  thus 
legally  inaugurated  as  president.  The  whole  scene  was  char 
acterized  by  a  dignity  which  was  rendered  the  more  impres 
sive  by  the  absence  of  the  formality  and  pomp  usual  on  simi 
lar  occasions. 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  8? 

"THE  WOKK  TO  BE  DONE  BY  THE  NEW  PBESIDENT. 

"  It  would  occupy  too  much  space  to  exhibit  in  detail  the 
various  improvements  which  were  instituted  by  the  president, 
many  of  which  were  conducted  by  himself  in  person,  and  all 
under  his  supervision.  The  buildings,  which  had  been  partial 
ly  repaired  from  the  ravages  of  war  and  the  waste  of  years  of 
neglect,  were  to  be  restored  to  their  former  comfort  and  sight 
liness  ;  accommodations  for  an  increased  number  of  students 
and  instructors  were  to  be  provided ;  the  apparatus  in  the 
departments  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy,  which 
had  been  totally  destroyed  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Federal 
Army,  was  to  be  repaired,  with  such  additions  as  the  prog 
ress  of  these  branches  of  science  rendered  necessary;  the 
library,  which  had  been  pillaged,  and  the  contents  of  which, 
when  not  destroyed  or  carried  out  of  the  State,  had  been  scat 
tered  over  the  town  and  its  vicinity,  and  were  then  in  the 
possession  of  those  who,  for  the  most  part,  felt  no  interest  in 
restoring  them  to  the  college,  was  to  be  reformed  as  far  as 
possible  out  of  the  old  materials  and  enlarged  by  fresh  addi 
tions  ;  the  scheme  of  instruction  was  to  be  revised  and  essen 
tially  modified,  so  as  to  adapt  it  more  fully  to  the  necessities 
of  the  times  and  of  the  countiy,  and  especially  to  admit  of  a 
ready  incorporation  with  it  of  the  several  new  departments 
which  were  proposed  to  be  added,  some  forthwith,  and  others 
as  soon  as  practicable  ;  and  all  this  with  an  empty  treasury, 
and  in  a  time  of  financial  distress,  of  social  disorders,  and  po 
litical  turbulence,  such  as  had  never  before  existed  in  the  coun 
try.  The  clear,  penetrating  judgment,  and  the  habits  of  calm, 
dispassionate  forecast  for  which  he  was  distinguished  through 
out  his  life  of  varied  experiences,  forbade  the  supposition 
that  the  president  was  not  fully  aware  of  the  magnitude  of 
his  undertaking,  and  of  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  in  its 
accomplishment.  Quietly  he  set  to  work,  availing  himself 
of  whatever  assistance  the  trustees  or  professors  could  afford 
in  maturing  or  in  executing  his  plans.  It  was  a  pleasure  to 


88  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

any  of  his  associates  in  these  enterprises  to  offer  suggestions 
to  him,  so  ready  was  he  to  listen  to  them  and  discuss  them 
in  all  their  bearings ;  but  those  approaching  him  with  such 
suggestions  usually  discovered,  before  the  conversation  ended, 
that  measures  which  they  supposed  were  fresh  and  original 
with  themselves,  had  been  thoroughly  canvassed  by  him ;  and 
they  always  learned,  then  or  afterward,  that  no  measure, 
however  plausible,  or  from  whatever  source  it  came,  would 
be  adopted  by  him  until  he  had  carefully  examined  it  in  all 
its  ,jarts. 

"THE  CHANGES  AND  IMPROVEMENTS  INTRODUCED  BY  GEN 
ERAL  LEE. 

"  In  presenting  the  chief  modifications  of  the  instruction 
and  government  of  the  college,  which  were  made  during  the 
administration  of  General  Lee,  it  is  proper  to  premise  that  it 
is  not  possible  to  determine  in  every  case  whether  the  new 
feature  originated  with  him  or  was  merely  approved  and 
adopted  by  him  from  the  suggestions  of  others.  It  is,  how 
ever,  safe  to  say  that  where  he  was  not  the  immediate  author 
of  any  measure,  it  would  not  have  been  carried  into  effect 
without  his  concurrence  and  the  weight  of  his  influence.  The 
credit  and  responsibility  for  the  changes  in  view  as  truly  be 
longed  to  him,  as  in  the  affairs  of  a  government  they  belong 
to  the  supreme  ruler,  or,  in  the  conduct  of  a  military  cam 
paign,  to  the  commander-in-chief. 

"  Prior  to  General  Lee's  presidency,  there  were  five  chairs 
of  instruction — that  of  Mental  and  Moral  Science  and  Political 
Economy,  filled  by  the  president,  and  those  of  the  Latin  Lan 
guage  and  Literature,  of  the  Greek  Language  and  Literature, 
of  Mathematics,  and  of  the  Physical  Sciences — Chemistry  and 
Natural  Philosophy — filled  each  by  a  professor.  As  'General 
Lee  had  made  it  a  condition  of  his  taking  the  office  that  he 
should  not  be  required  to  teach,  but  be  allowed  to  devote  all 
his  time  and  labors  to  the  superintendency  of  the  institution, 
H  became  necessary  to  appoint  a  professor  for  the  branches 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  80 

which  had  been  in  charge  of  the  president.  This  was  done 
soon  after  his  accession ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  three  new 
chairs  of  instruction  were  instituted  and  professors  elected  to 
them,  viz. :  the  chair  of  Natural  Philosophy,  embracing,  in 
addition  to  Physics,  Acoustics,  Optics,  etc.,  the  various  sub 
jects  of  Rational  and  Applied  Mechanics ;  the  chair  of  Ap 
plied  Mathematics,  embracing  the  subjects  required  in  Civil 
and  Military  Engineering,  and  also  Astronomy ;  the  chair  of 
Modern  Languages,  to  which  was  attached  English  Philology. 
These  four  chairs  were  filled  during  the  first  year  of  General 
Lee's  incumbency.  Before  the  close  of  the  second  year  the 
chair  of  History  and  English  Literature  was  also  filled.  About 
the  same  time  the  department  of  'Law  and  Equity'  was 
added  by  attaching  to  the  college  the  '  Lexington  Law  School,' 
which  had  for  many  years  been  in  successful  operation  under 
the  charge  of  Judge  John  W.  Brockenbrough,  LL.  D.  A 
few  months  before  his  death,  General  Lee  was  permitted  to 
realize  the  completion  of  his  plans  respecting  this  depart 
ment,  by  the  appointment  and  acceptance  of  a  second  Law 
professor. 

"  Two  other  chairs  were  included  in  the  president's  scheme : 
the  one,  of  the  '  English  Language,'  as  a  study  to  receive 
equal  attention  and  honor  with  the  most  favored  branches  of 
instruction ;  the  other,  of  c  Applied  Chemistry,'  in  which 
should  be  taught  Metallurgy,  and  the  relations  of  Chemistry 
to  Agriculture,  Mining,  and  Manufactures,  together  with 
Vegetable  and  Animal  Physiology. 

"  Wide  as  is  the  range  of  educational  facilities  already  men 
tioned,  it  does  not  embrace  all  that  the  president  contem 
plated.  He  took  the  initiatory  steps  toward  the  establish 
ment  of  a  School  of  Commerce  of  so  thorough  and  elevated 
a  character  that  a  student,  while  pursuing  the  branches  which 
would  impart  discipline  and  culture  to  the  mind,  might  re 
ceive  special  instruction  and  systematic  training  in  whatever 
pertains  to  business,  in  the  most  enlarged  sense  of  the  term. 
It  was  also  his  purpose  to  connect  with  the  college  a  <  School 


90  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

of  Medicine,'  a  plan  for  which,  with  full  details,  was  drawn 
up  under  his  eje,  to  be  kept  in  readiness  until  the  funds  of 
the  institution  should  permit  its  being  carried  into  effect. 

"  It  was  proper  that  these  various  schemes,  as  well  as  those 
which  the  want  of  the  requisite  funds  and  his  death  have  left 
but  partially  accomplished,  as  those  which  were  set  in  full  op 
eration  during  his  presidency,  should  have  been  placed  dis 
tinctly  before  the  reader.  "Without  a  knowledge  of  them, 
the  energy  General  Lee  displayed,  the  labor  he  performed, 
and  his  comprehensive  views  of  what  is  required  of  an  insti 
tution  offering  to  the  public  the  full  advantages  of  a  literary 
and  scientific  education,  cannot  be  duly  appreciated. 

"  There  is  danger,  however,  that  the  foregoing  recital  may 
lead  the  casual  reader  into  error  as  to  General  Lee's  conception 
of  what  constitutes  an  education,  referring  here  only  to  its 
intellectual  aspects — such  as  it  was  his  desire  and  purpose  to 
promote  in  the  institution  over  which  he  presided.  As  nearly 
all  the  new  chairs  of  instruction  and  plans  for  further  enlarge 
ment  relate  to  a  scientific  or  a  professional  education,  it  might 
be  inferred  that  he  did  not  place  an  equal  value  on  classical 
studies.  No  misapprehension  would  be  greater  than  this,  as 
all  who  had  the  privilege  of  being  associated  with  him  in 
regulating  the  studies  of  the  college  well  understood.  Him 
self  acquainted  with  the  ancient  languages,  Latin  and  Greek, 
much  beyond  what  is  usual  with  those  of  his  former  profes 
sion,  or  what  might  have  been  expected  of  one  so  constantly 
employed  as  he  had  been  in  the  kind  of  public  service  re 
quired  by  that  profession,  he  set  the  highest  estimate  on  them 
as  themselves  the  surest  means  of  a  refined  mental  culture, 
and  as  affording  the  soundest  mental  discipline  for  successful 
attainments  in  the  studies  that  should  be  subsequently  under 
taken.  Hence,  in  cases  in  which  the  selectign  of  the  studies 
was  left  to  him,  unembarrassed  by  the  wishes  of  parents  or 
the  circumstances  of  the  pupil,  he  invariably  advised  and 
urged  a  thorough  course  in  the  ancient  languages.  He  was 
aware  that  in  this  he  had  the  concurrence  of  the  professors  in 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  91 

the  scientific  branches  no  less  than  of  those  in  the  classical. 
The  fact  that,  when  he  came  to  the  college,  he  found  the  clas 
sical  department  competently  provided  for,  explains  why  his 
attention  was  directed  chiefly  to  the  expansion  of  those  de 
partments  in  which  deficiencies  existed. 

"  Yet  it  is  due  to  candor  and  to  his  memory  to  add,  if,  in 
deed,  it  is  necessary  after  what  has  already  been  stated,  that 
General  Lee  was  a  strong  advocate  of  '  practical  education,' 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  phrase — a  practical  education  founded 
on  systematic  mental  discipline  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  principles  and  facts  of  science.  This,  which  is  of  price 
less  value  at  all  times,  he  held  to  be  peculiarly  important  to 
his  own  loved  South  in  the  present  crisis  of  her  affairs. 
In  a  letter  to  his  esteemed  friend  and  former  companion  in 
arms,  General  John  B.  Gordon,  of  Georgia  (December  30, 
1867),  he  writes  in  general  terms :  e  The  thorough  education 
of  all  classes  of  the  people  is  the  most  efficacious  means,  in 
my  opinion,  of  promoting  the  prosperity  of  the  South ; 
and  the  material  interests  of  its  citizens,  as  well  as  their 
moral  and  intellectual  culture,  depend  upon  its  accomplish 
ment.  The  text-books  of  our  schools,  therefore,  should  not 
only  be  clear,  systematic,  and  scientific,  but  they  should  be 
acceptable  to  parents  and  pupils  in  order  to  enlist  the 
minds  of  all  in. the  subjects.'  And  more  specifically  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend  in  Baltimore  engaged  in  practical  science 
(January,  1867) :  '  I  agree  with  you  fully  as  to  the  impor 
tance  of  a  more  practical  course  of  instruction  in  our  schools 
and  colleges,  which,  while  it  may  call  forth  the  genius  and 
energies  of  our  people,  will  tend  to  develop  the  resources  and 
promote  the  interests  of  the  country.' 


"  With  the  accession  of  General  Lee  to  the  presidency,  im 
portant  changes  were  made  in  the  system  of  instruction. 
One  of  these  was  the  substitution  of  what  is  known  as  the 
Elective  system  for  a  uniform  and  compulsory  Curriculum, 


92  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"Without  discussing  the  advantages  of  the  one  or  the  other  of 
the  two  methods,  it  is  sufficient  to  remark  hero  that  the 
change  which  was  introduced  was  the  necessary  result  of  the 
enlarged  basis  of  instruction  implied  in  the  addition  of  the  new 
branches  and  professors  just  enumerated.  The  aim  was  to 
secure,  alike  in  the  instruction  by  the  professor  and  in  the  ac 
quisitions  of  the  student,  the  highest  attainable  development. 
Hence,  each  branch  of  study  was  organized  into  a  distinct  and, 
in  a  sense,  an  independent  department  or  school.  Students 
who  were  prevented,  by  whatever  cause,  from  pursuing  a 
full  course,  could  enjoy  the  best  advantages  for  a  partial 
course  in  special  directions,  and  receive  certificates  of  profi 
ciency,  degrees  or  titles  corresponding  to  the  character  and 
extent  of  the  attainments  they  should  actually  make. 

"  General  Lee,  however,  was  not  inattentive  to  the  evils 
that  might  arise  from  allowing  to  students  the  free,  uncon 
trolled  selection  of  the  branches  they  should  pursue.  The 
choice  accorded  to  them  was  restricted  to  the  schools  or  de 
partments  they  were  to  enter.  Within  each  school  a  rigid  clas 
sification  was  made.  No  student  was  admitted  into  a  class 
for  which  he  was  not  prepared,  and,  when  admitted,  each  was 
required  to  pursue  the  prescribed  order  of  subjects.  When 
found  deficient  he  was  liable  to  be  transferred  to  a  lower 
class,  and  when  prepared  he  could,  at  any  time,  be  promoted 
to  a  higher  class,  in  each  case,  of  the  same  school ;  but  no 
promotion  was  allowed,  either  at  the  close  of  the  session  or 
during  its  progress,  except  on  the  ground  of  proficiency  actu 
ally  made.  By  these  means  the  professor  in  charge  of  a 
school  was  enabled  to  secure  an  approximation  to  that  which 
all  teachers  so  earnestly  desire — uniformity  in  proficiency 
and  progress  among  the  members  of  each  class,  so  that  he 
may  adapt  his  instructions  to  the  ascertained  wants  of  all. 


"  The  next  topic  to  be  noticed  is  the  mode  of  discipline 
adopted  and  administered  by  General  Lee.     For  this,  it  may 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  93 

be  said,  lie  was  responsible,  in  a  higher  and  more  exclusive 
sense,  than  perhaps  for  any  other  feature  of  the  college,  for  it 
was  shaped  and  controlled  with  little  assistance  from  any 
source. 

"  The  immediate  ends  of  college  discipline  are  attention 
to  study,  and  good  order  as  necessary  to  such  diligence.  Its 
higher  and  more  comprehensive  end  is  attention  to  study 
and  good  order  obtained  by  means  which  will  cultivate  virtu 
ous  principles  and  correct  habits,  not  merely  for  the  brief  pe 
riod  of  a  college  course,  but  also  for  subsequent  life.  As 
nothing  has  occasioned  as  much  trouble  in  the  management 
of  colleges  as  the  discipline,  so  nothing  has  yielded  so  unsatis 
factory  results.  Between  the  two  systems  which  have  been 
tried — the  one  of  a  control,  scarcely  nominal  in  pretense,  and 
certainly  not  more  than  nominal  in  reality ;  the  other  charac 
terized  by  a  multiplicity  of  petty,  artificial  '  rules  and  regu 
lations,'  enforced  by  vigorous,  unremitting  espionage  —  it 
would  be  difficult  to  make  a  choice,  whether  one  judges  by 
the  dictates  of  reason  and  common-sense,  or  by  the  light  of 
experience.  If  the  former  allows  too  much  license  to  the  un 
reflecting  follies  and  wayward  passions  of  youth,  the  latter 
errs  on  the  other  extreme  by  attempting  to  impose  restraints 
which,  as  on  the  one  hand  they  can  never  be  effectually 
maintained,  assail  the  young  with  a  temptation  to  seek  to 
elude  them,  in  order  to  show  their  independence  of  spirit, 
their  skill  and  daring ;  and  which,  just  so  far,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  they  are  even  partially  maintained,  chafe  the  stu 
dent's  pride,  excite  his  disgust,  and  create  in  the  mind  a 
stronger  proclivity  to  the  errors  and  vices  they  are  intended 
to  prevent.  It  will  be  found,  on  a  careful  review  of  the 
history  of  colleges  in  our  country,  that  the  larger  number 
of  the  disturbances  by  which  their  quiet  has  been  interrupted, 
and  sometimes  their  exercises  suspended,  have  originated  in 
such  arbitrary,  mechanical,  and  yet  impotent  regulations. 

"Those  wrho  were  acquainted  with   General  Lee   only 
through  the  incidents  of  his  public  career  may  have  expected 


94  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

that  lie  would  frame  the  discipline  of  the  college  over  which 
he  presided  in  accordance  with  the  system  pursued  at  the 
institution  ("West  Point)  in  which  he  was  educated,  and  of 
which  he  was  for  some  years  the  superintendent,  and  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  order  and  practice  to  which,  as  a  military 
man,  he  had  been  so  long  accustomed.  His  explanation  of 
the  reasons  for  not  adopting  a  discipline  so  familiar  to  him, 
and  that  in  his  hands  would  have  been  so  easily  administered, 
was,  that  he  did  not  propose  to  train  men  for  the  army,  but 
for  the  pursuits  of  civil  life,  and  that,  in  his  view,  the  disci 
pline  fitted  to  make  soldiers  was  not  best  suited  to  qualify 
young  men  for  the  duties  of  the  citizen.  Throughout  his 
official  and  his  private  intercourse  with  the  students,  his  aim 
was  to  cultivate  in  them  a  nice  sense  of  propriety  and  a 
strong  sense  of  duty.  Hence  he  treated  each  one,  not  as  a 
machine  to  move  only  as  external  force  should  impel  it  for 
ward,  nor  as  a  delinquent  already  convicted  as  such,  and 
therefore  to  be  suspected  and  watched  at  every  step ;  but, 
until  the  contrary  should  be  manifested,  as  a  young  gentleman 
of  good  breeding,  veracity,  self-respect,  and  possessing  cor 
rect  principles,  honorable  impulses,  and  a  conscience,  with 
whom  it  was  sufficient  that  right  and  wrong,  duty  and  obliga 
tion,  should  be  distinctly  made  known.  Of  course,  he  was 
aware  that,  in  assuming  this  of  every  one,  he  was  liable  to  be 
mistaken  in  some  instances.  The  effect,  however,  on  the 
minds  of  all,  except  the  incurably  vicious,  was  most  salutary. 
It  caused  them  to  feel  that  they  had  a  character  to  maintain, 
and  inspired  them  with  an  ambition  to  vindicate  and  strength 
en  the  confidence  which  was  reposed  in  them.  Thus,  from 
the  beginning,  it  contributed  greatly  to  the  end  which  the 
president  kept  steadily  in  view  in  every  disciplinary  meas 
ure  he  framed  or  employed — to  foster  habits  of  self-control,  of 
intelligent  self-government,  as  the  result,  not  of  compulsion 
or  penalties,  but  of  reflection  and  choice.  On  the  principle  of 
inducing  those  under  his  charge  to  govern  themselves  by 
giving  scope  and  opportunity  to  think  for  themselves,  it  was 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  95 

his  custom  to  refrain  from  interposing  with  any  demonstra 
tion  of  his  wishes  or  authority  as  long  as  it  could  be  done 
with  safety.  Never  was  there  a  president  of  a  college  or 
other  ruler  who  made  less  display  of  his  official  power,  or 
seemed  to  exercise  less  control.  Yet  no  one,  it  may  be  confi 
dently  asserted,  ever  exerted  an  influence  which  was  more 
widely  and  powerfully  felt  in  every  department  it  was  de 
signed  to  embrace. 

"  Before  specifying  the  particular  methods  emyloyed  by 
General  Lee  to  establish  and  preserve  an  effectual  discipline 
in  the  college,  in  accordance  with  the  general  principle  just 
stated,  it  is  proper  to  refer  to  two  circumstances  which  com 
bined  to  render  the  task  especially  difficult,  and  should  be  es 
timated  in  determining  the  degree  of  credit  due  him  for  the 
success  he  attained.  One  of  these  arose  from  the  character 
of  a  portion  of  the  students  who  came  under  his  charge. 
They  were,  indeed,  with  few  if  any  exceptions,  from  families 
of  respectability,  many  of  them  from  families  of  refined  cul 
ture  and  high  social  position.  But  for  several  years — with 
them  the  critical  years  in  their  moral  history — they  had  been 
exposed  to  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  civil  war,  which,  in  the 
excitement  it  created  and  the  exhaustion  of  the  resources  of 
the  country,  disbanded  schools,  weakened  parental  authority, 
relaxed  family  government,  and  disorganized  society  to  an 
extent  that  can  scarcely  be  overstated.  With  the  spirit  and 
habits  such  a  state  of  things  might  be  expected  to  induce  in 
the  minds  of  youths  under  twenty  years  of  age,  and  without 
time  or  opportunity  for  the  mitigation  of  the  evil,  they  were 
sent  to  college  to  be  reduced  to  subordination,  to  regular  ap 
plication  to  routine  studies,  and  to  a  patient  endurance  of 
the  drudgery  (as  to  them  it  must  appear)  of  such  a  life.  Nor 
is  it  a  matter  of  mere  suspicion  that  some  of  them  were 
placed  under  the  charge  of  General  Lee  in  the  forlorn  hope 
that  his  great  name  and  great  wisdom  might  avail  for  that 
which  all  other  means  had  failed  to  accomplish. 

"  These  remarks,  so  far  as  they  imply  a  deterioration  of  char 


96  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

acter,  are  not  to  be  construed  as  applying  to  all  the  students, 
nor  even  to  a  majority  of  them.  It  is  a  gratifying  fact  in 
respect  to  Washington  College,  as  it  is  believed  also  to  other 
similar  institutions  of  the  South  since  the  war,  that  the  most 
of  the  students  have  evinced  an  earnestness  of  purpose  and  a 
manly  propriety  of  demeanor  never  surpassed,  if  ever  equaled, 
in  our  country  before.  This  is  emphatically  true  of  those  of 
them  who  were  personally  engaged  in  active  military  ser 
vice. 

"  The  other  circumstance  referred  to  as  uniting  with  that 
just  mentioned  to  render  the  task  before  General  Lee  more 
difficult,  originated  in  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  the 
South.  Young  men  naturally  partook  deeply  of  the  feelings 
which  were  almost  universal  in  the  class  of  society  to  which 
they  belonged,  that  this  measure  was  unjust,  oppressive,  and 
injurious.  They  were  not  likely  to  be  as  prudent  in  giving 
utterance  to  their  sense  of  the  wrong  as  others  of  more  ex 
perience  and  self-control.  On  the  other  hand,  the  late  slaves, 
suddenly  elevated  to  a  position  which  they  had  scarcely  ven 
tured  to  dream  would  be  possible  to  them,  were,  as  may  be 
supposed,  greatly  elated  by  the  change ;  and  they  too  were 
not  always  as  prudent  in  giving  expression  to  their  feelings 
as  a  calmer  judgment  would  have  shown  them  was  best. 
The  two  inflammable  classes  being  unavoidably  brought  into 
proximity  to  each  other,  it  was  hardly  possible  to  prevent 
occasional  collisions.  The  danger  engaged  the  most  assidu 
ous  attentions  of  General  Lee,  especially  during  the  first 
three  years  of  his  administration.  That  so  few  instances  of 
actual  violence  occurred,  is  to  be  ascribed  to  his  untiring  energy 
and  consummate  skill. 

"  It  is  due  alike  to  the  students  and  to  the  freedmen  to  say 
that  it  is  believed  some,  if  not  all,  of  the  disturbances  between 
them  would  have  been  avoided,  if  the  latter  had  been  left  to 
pursue  their  usually  quiet  and  inoffensive  demeanor,  without 
extraneous  efforts  to  poison  their  minds  and  embitter  their 
feelings  toward  the  whites  of  the  South.  Such  efforts,  how- 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  97 

ever,  were  made,  publicly  and  privately,  by  those,  or  tlieir 
hired  emissaries,  who  had  constituted  themselves  the  special 
guardians  of  the  freed  population  of  the  country.     General 
Lee  was  too  conspicuous  an  object  to  escape  the  designs  of 
men  who  were  seeking  notoriety  for  themselves — a  notoriety 
which  might  be  turned  to  their  pecuniary  or  political  advan 
tage.     As  he  was  shielded  from  direct  attack  by  the  serene 
dignity  of  his  character  and  his  scrupulous  attention  to  all 
his  obligations  as  a  member  of  society  and  citizen  of  the 
country,  the  only  way  to  reach  him  was  through  the  institu 
tion  over  which  he  presided  and  to  the  reputation  of  which 
he  was  known  to  be  keenly  sensitive.     Humored  disorders 
among  the  students  would  react  on  him  ;  a  conflict  between 
them  and  the  laws,  or  the   official   representatives   of  the 
Government,  would  involve  him.     To  no  other  cause  does 
it  seem  possible  to   ascribe  the  numerous  false  and  injuri 
ous  reports   that   found  circulation   through  the  press,  of 
improper   conduct  on  the  part  of  the  students  of  '  General 
Lee's  College;'  the   frequent   'official'   representations  ad 
dressed  to  him  of  rumored  disorderly  or  unlawful  acts  which 
they  were  going  to  commit,  not  one  of  which  was  ever  ascer 
tained  or  believed  to  have  been  founded  in  truth ;  or  the 
complaints  made  to  the  authorities,  civil  or  military,  as  hap 
pened  at  the  time  to  be  their  character,  on  which,  once  and 
again,  formal  commissions  were  sent  to  the  place  to  investi 
gate  charges  against  the  students.     However  frivolous  such 
complaints  were  in  themselves,  and  however  groundless  he 
believed  them  to  be,  whenever  they  came  from  a  source  pos 
sessing  even  the  semblance  of  official  authority,  General  Lee 
received  them  with  scrupulous   courtesy,  and  immediately 
took  steps  to  have  them  thoroughly  investigated.     The  re 
sults  of  the  inquiry  were  in  every  instance  creditable  alike  to 
the  president  and  the  students,  as  was,  on  more  than  one  oc 
casion,  formally   certified    by  officers  of   the    Government. 
Still,  it  .can  readily  be  seen  that  the  effect  of  such  repeated 
complaints  and  investigations  on  the  minds  of  young  men 
7 


03  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

would  be,  to  provoke  them  to  the  very  course  of  conduct  it 
ought  to  have  been  the  wish  of  all  to  prevent.  There  were 
instances — not  more  than  two  or  three  in  all — in  which  stu 
dents  were  guilty  of  improper  conduct  toward  the  negroes. 
In  each  case,  without  any  prompting  from  others,  the  presi 
dent,  having  ascertained  the  facts,  required  the  offenders  to 
leave  the  college. 

"  General  Lee  bore  these  annoyances  with  his  accustomed 
equanimity.  That  they  were  aimed  at  himself,  he  was  fully 
aware ;  but,  when  any  of  those  with  whom  he  allowed  him 
self  to  converse  on  the  subject  expressed  the  indignation 
they  could  but  feel  at  such  attempts  to  harass  him  and  at 
the  indignity  to  which  he  was  subjected  in  having  to  deal, 
on  even  the  formal  terms  of  official  intercourse,  with  a  class 
of  men  who  were  wholly  incapable  of  understanding  the 
motives  by  which  he  was  governed,  he  would,  at  one  time, 
pass  the  subject  by  with  some  pleasantry,  and  at  another 
would  seek  to  allay  the  irritation  in  their  breasts  by  reminding 
them  that,  in  the  existing  condition  of  the  country,  such  things 
were  perhaps  unavoidable,  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  all  to 
submit  patiently  to  evils  for  which  time  was  the  only  cure. 

"  "While  discarding,  as  has  been  mentioned,  all  devices  for 
maintaining  the  discipline  of  the  college  which  he  supposed 
would  tend  to  the  degradation  of  either  officers  or  students, 
and  while  encouraging,  in  every  possible  way,  habits  of  sub 
ordination,  correctness  of  demeanor,  and  diligent  attention  to 
study,  as  the  result  of  their  own  conviction  of  duty  and  re 
gard  for  their  own  reputation,  the  president,  nevertheless, 
exercised  a  constant  vigilance  over  the  students  through 
means  which  he  believed  were  not  only  compatible  with  the 
latter  end,  but  also  most  effectual  in  its  accomplishment. 
His  method  of  practical  operation  was  simple,  and,  as  the 
results  show,  effective. 

"  As  the  first  step,  he  sought  to  become  acquainted  with 
each  student.  He  had  an  office  in  the  college  buildings  in 
which  he  remained,  unless  called  out  by  public  business,  from 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  o-) 

8  o'clock  A.  M.  to  2  P.  M.,  of  each  of  six  days  in  the  week. 
To  this  room  free  access  was  offered  to  the  students.  Here, 
on  their  arrival  at  the  place,  they  were  expected  to  report  to 
the  president  in  person,  and  he  availed  himself,  as  far  as  was 
possible,  of  these  earliest  interviews,  to  obtain  such  knowl 
edge  of  the  several  applicants  for  admission  as  would  enable 
him  to  adapt  whatever  disciplinary  appliances  might  be  after 
ward  found  advisable  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  each 
one.  In  the  large  number  of  students  entering  the  institu 
tion  every  year,  this  may  be  deemed  an  impracticable  task ; 
with  ordinary  men,  it  would  have  been  such.  No  one,  how 
ever,  who  was  ever  associated  with  General  Lee  in  the  man 
agement  of  any  enterprise,  could  fail  to  observe  and  admire 
the  remarkable  tenacity  and  accuracy  of  his  memory.  He 
appeared  never  to  forget  any  thing,  however  comparatively 
insignificant,  which  it  was  with  him  a  matter  of  concern  to 
remember.  Hence,  until  the  last  year  of  his  presidency, 
when,  on  account  of  his  failing  health,  he  was  frequently 
absent  from  his  office,  he  knew  every  student  in  the  college, 
and  would  greet  each  one  by  name  whenever  they  met.  One 
fact,  among  many  others  illustrating  the  point  in  view,  may 
not  be  out  of  place.  At  one  of  the  meetings  of  the  Faculty, 
held,  as  was  the  custom,  at  short  intervals,  for  reviewing  the 
roll  of  the  college  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  all  the  stu 
dents  were  attending  the  required  number  of  lectures,  a  name 
was  read  out  which  was  not  familiar  to  his  ear.  He  re 
quested  that  it  should  be  repeated,  and  then  repeated  it  him 
self  with  a  slow  and  heavy  emphasis  on  each  syllable,  adding 
with  evident  surprise,  not  without  a  tincture  of  self-reproach : 
<I  have  no  recollection  of  a  student  of  that  name.  It  is 
very  strange  that  I  have  forgotten  him.  I  thought  I  knew 
every  one  in  the  college.  How  long  has  he  been  here?' 
Nor  would  he  be  satisfied  until  it  was  ascertained  by  an  in 
vestigation  that  the  student  had  recently  entered,  and  was 
admitted  in  the  president's  absence ;  so  that,  in  fact,  the 
latter  had  never  seen  him. 


100  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

"  This  personal  acquaintance  with  them  was  itself  felt  by 
the  students  as  a  moral  power  greatly  augmenting  the  influ 
ence  of  the  president  over  them ;  when  there  was  added  to  it 
the  effect  of  the  kind  words  of  inquiry,  advice,  and  encour 
agement,  he  was  wont  to  address  to  them,  and  of  the  affec 
tionate,  sympathetic,  and  often  playful  manner  in  which 
those  words  were  uttered,  when  they  were  admitted  into 
college,  when  they  visited  him  in  his  office  or  his  residence, 
or  when  he  met  them  on  the  lawn  or  in  the  streets,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  how  their  sentiments  of  reverence  and 
admiration  for  his  character  would  be  heightened  into  love 
for  him  as  a  man.  It  was  true — and  they  felt  it  to  be  true- 
that  each  of  them  was  the  object  of  a  solicitude  fervent  and 
tender,  like  that  of  a  father  or  mother. 

"  Knowing  that  idleness  is  the  most  fruitful  source  of 
temptation  to  the  young,  the  president  was  peremptory  in 
requiring  that  every  student  should  undertake  a  sufficient 
number  of  branches  to  occupy  all  his  time,  and  that  he  should 
attend  regularly  on  all  the  exercises  of  his  several  classes. 
Absence  from  the  latter,  without  a  satisfactory  reason,  was 
held  to  be  a  delinquency  that  called  for  prompt  and  decisive 
notice.  In  order  that  he  might  be  prepared  to  give  due  at 
tention  to  every  instance  of  the  kind,  each  professor  and 
assistant  professor  made  a  weekly  report,  in  tabular  form, 
of  all  the  absences  occurring  in  his  classes.  The  president 
examined  these  reports  with  the  minutest  care,  and  made 
memoranda  of  all  cases  which  called  for  special  inquiry. 
The  delinquents  were  then  summoned  to  his  office,  one  by 
one,  for  a  private  interview. 

"  What  took  place  at  these  conferences  was  seldom  known, 
except  as  the  student  himself  might  reveal  it ;  for,  unless  it 
became  necessary  from  the  conduct  of  the  delinquent  after 
ward,  the  President  never  alluded  to  the  subject.  The  young, 
however,  with  the  ingenuousness  which  is  one  of  their  most 
pleasing  qualities,  are  naturally  inclined  to  be  communicative : 
and  in  this  way  enough  transpired  to  leave  no  room  to  doubt 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  101 

that  the  president's  reproofs,  admonitions,  and  counsels,  were 
characterized  by  a  pointedness  which  could  not  be  evaded, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  with  a  tenderness  and  affection  none 
but  the  most  hardened  could  resist.  That  aspect  of  indiffer 
ence  and  bravado,  whether  real  or  affected,  so  often  witnessed 
in  the  countenance  and  bearing  of  students  returning  among 
their  companions  from  a  compulsory  interview  with  the 
authorities  of  a  college,  was  never  seen  on  the  face  of  one 
leaving  General  Lee's  office  ;  but,  instead,  were  often  exhib 
ited  the  unmistakable  signs  of  recent  weeping,  and  always 
those  of  a  spirit  that  had  been  subdued  by  its  own  emotions. 
Not  an  instance  is  known  in  which  a  student  complained  of 
injustice  or  harshness,  or  in  which  the  effect  on  his  mind 
was  not  a  profounder  respect  and  affection  for  the  president. 
It  was  seldom  that  any  thing  additional  to  the  penalty,  if  it 
may  be  so  called,  of  being  cited  to  one  of  these  interviews, 
was  required  in  order  to  secure  the  ends  of  discipline.  In 
deed,  with  the  great  majority  of  the  students  it  was  quite 
sufficient  to  know  that  any  delinquencies  on  their  part  would 
subject  them  to  a  notice  from  the  president  to  see  him  in  his 
office. 

"  Still  there  were  cases  of  neglect  of  duty  which  the  influ 
ence  of  General  Lee,  exerted  in  the  manner  here  explained, 
did  not  avail  to  correct.  After  a  sufficient  number  of  trials 
to  satisfy  him  that  nothing  could  be  hoped  for  from  personal 
admonitions  of  this  character,  the  parent  or  guardian  was  in 
formed  of  the  fact,  and  requested  to  cooperate  with  the  au 
thorities  of  the  college  in  a  further  effort  on  behalf  of  the 
delinquent  student.  This  final  measure  failing,  as  sometimes, 
though  rarely,  it  did,  the  parent  was  requested  to  withdraw 
his  son  from  the  institution,  on  the  grounds  that  he  was  spend 
ing  time  and  money  without  remunerative  benefit,  and  that 
his  example  of  idleness  and  irregular  attendance  on  the 
exercises  was  injurious  to  his  fellow-students.  Communica 
tions  of  such  tenor  are  unavoidably  painful  to  parents  receiv 
ing  them ;  they  were  scarcely  less  so  to  the  president  when 


102  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

making  them.  Hence  lie  sought,  in  every  way,  to  render 
them  as  kind  and  tender  as  possible.  He  was  unwilling,  if  it 
could  be  avoided,  to  send  any  youth  from  the  college  with  a 
stigma  on  his  reputation  which  would  injure  him  in  future 
life,  and  in  order  to  prevent  this  he  gave  the  parent  the  op 
portunity  of  withdrawing  his  son  when  it  became  necessary 
that  the  latter  should  be  separated  from  the  institution,  rath 
er  than  subject  him  to  the  disgrace  of  a  formal  or  public  dis 
mission.  Unless,  indeed,  the  student  himself  or  his  friends 
at  home  made  it  known,  the  reason  for  his  leaving  the  col 
lege  would  seldom  transpire  beyond  the  circle  of  the  parties 
immediately  concerned. 

"  The  following  letter,  which  explains  its  own  design  and 
contents,  illustrates  the  manner  in  which  the  president  dealt 
with  a  class  of  cases  that  sometimes  came  under  his  notice  : 

"'LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  12,  1867. 
MY  DEAR  SIK  :.  I  am  glad  to  inform  you  that  your  son  • 


has  made  more  progress  in  his  studies  during  the  month  of  No 
vember  than  he  did  in  October,  and,  as  far  as  I  can  judge  from 
the  reports  of  his  professors,  he  is  fully  capable  of  acquiring  a 
sound  education,  provided  he  will  faithfully  apply  himself.  I  am 
sorry,  however,  to  state  that  he  has  been  absent  several  times 
from  his  lectures  in  the  month  of  November.  Thirteen  times  he 
tells  me  he  was  prevented  from  attending  by  sickness,  but  five 
times,  he  says,  he  intentionally  absented  himself.  He  absent 
ed  himself  in  the  same  way  several  times  in  October;  and  I 
then  explained  to  him  the  necessity  of  punctual  and  regular 
attendance  in  his  classes,  which  he  promised  to  observe. 

"  *  I  have  again  impressed  upon  him  this  necessity,  and  again 
he  promises  amendment ;  but  I  have  thought  it  proper  to  write 
to  you  on  the  subject,  that  you  might  use  your  authority  with 
him :  for  I  have  been  obliged  to  give  him  to  understand  that,  if 
this  conduct  is  repeated,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  return  him  to  you 

"  *  Hoping  that  I  may  be  spared  the  necessity,  I  remain, 
"  *  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"'R.  E.  LEE. 

«<To ,  Esq.' 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  103 

"  In  addition  to  the  weekly  reports  of  absences,  the  pro 
fessors  laid  before  the  president,  at  the  close  of  every  month, 
a  tabular  exhibit  of  the  standing  and  grade  of  each  student  ill 
his  respective  classes,  as  determined  by  the  daily  marks  given 
in  the  lecture-room.  These  also  he  examined  with  close  atten 
tion,  so  as  to  inform  himself  of  the  progress  of  the  students, 
and  then  passed  the  reports  over  to  the  clerk,  to  be  transferred 
to  a  permanent  register  arranged  in  such  a  manner  as  to  pre 
sent,  at  one  view,  the  standing  of  every  student  in  each  of  his 
studies  for  the  month.  A  copy  of  the  record  in  the  register 
was  then  forwarded  to  the  parent  or  guardian  of  the  student. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  two  general  examinations  which  were 
held  during  the  annual  sessions — the  one  in  the  middle  and 
the  other  at  the  end — similar  reports  were  presented,  ex 
amined,  recorded,  and  forwarded  to  parents,  exhibiting  a  con 
spectus  of  the  results  and  delinquencies  for  each  half -session ; 
the  latter,  those  also  of  the  entire  year. 

"  It  would  be  difficult  to  suggest  any  method  by  which 
more  particular  or  complete  information  could  be  furnished 
to  parents  than  those  frequent  and  systematized  reports  sup 
plied.  If,  however,  there  was  occasion  for  any  additional 
facts  to  be  stated,  the  president  inserted  it  with  his  own  hand, 
or  signed  it  when  entered  under  his  direction  by  the  clerk. 
Especially  at  the  close  of  the  session,  when  on  a  review  of  the 
year's  work  it  was  seen  that  some  of  the  students  were  enti 
tled  to  special  commendation  for  their  deportment  and  profi 
ciency,  and  that  others,  although  they  had  not  failed  in  their 
studies  to  an  extent  that  rendered  their  withdrawal  from  the 
college  necessary  during  the  session,  had  not  made  such  prog 
ress  as  to  afford  ground  for  the  hope  that  their  longer  con 
tinuance  in  it  would  result  in  advantages  to  them  commensu 
rate  with  the  expenditures  of  time  and  money  it  would  in 
volve,  letters  in  his  own  hand,  or  with  his  signature,  were  ad 
dressed  to  the  parents,  setting  forth  the  views  of  the  presi 
dent  and  the  professors  in  relation  to  the  individuals  compos 
ing  the  one  class  or  the  other. 


104  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

"  The  labor  involved  in  the  system  of  discipline  was  very 
great ;  but  General  Lee  thought  it  necessary  to  the  faithful 
discharge  of  the  trust  he  had  assumed.  lie  did  not  shrink 
from  it,  nor  complain  of  it.  He  seemed  never  to  have  over 
looked  any  thing.  "When  the  members  of  the  Faculty  assem 
bled  in  his  office  to  lay  before  him  the  reports  for  the  week 
just  closed,  he  was  in  variably  found  prepared  to  receive  them, 
having  disposed  of  all  the  business  which  those  of  the  week 
before  had  imposed  on  him,  and  being  now  in  full  and  cheer 
ful  readiness  for  any  work,  though  much  of  it  was  sheer 
drudgery,  which  the  new  reports  might  require.  Was  such 
an  amount  of  irksome  labor  necessary  ?  He  believed — and 
often  so  expressed  himself — that  it  was.  He  felt  that  too 
much  vigilance  and  care  could  not  be  bestowed  on  those  who, 
in  the  most  critical  period  of  their  lives,  had  been  committed 
to  his  charge,  in  holding  them  up  to  the  regular  discharge  of 
their  duties.  He  felt  too,  that  the  utmost  candor  and  particu 
larity  were  due  from  him  to  the  parents  who  had  intrusted 
him  with  the  oversight  of  their  sons.  Having  discarded,  as 
already  stated,  all  secret  appliances  for  maintaining  an  espion 
age  over  the  students,  he  felt  that  it  was  the  more  incumbent 
on  him  to  exercise,  with  all  possible  promptness  and  regu 
larity,  the  open,  manly  method  of  discipline  which  he  had 
substituted  for  it. 

"  As  allusion  has  been  made  to  the  frequent  complaints 
made  to  General  Lee  of  acts  of  disorder  which  it  was  rumored 
the  students  had  committed,  or  were  about  to  commit,  it  may 
l)e  well  to  insert  here  a  specimen  of  the  replies  and  addresses 
to  which  such  complaints  gave  rise.  The  following  letter  to 
an  officer  of  the  Government  requires  no  introduction : 

' '  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  November  20,  1868. 
"COLONEL:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  19th  inst., 
which  gave  me  the  first  intimation  I  had  received  of  the  proposed 
meeting  of  the  colored  people  of  Lexington. 

" '  The  Faculty  and  students  of  the  college  to  whom  the  subject 
has  been  mentioned,  were  equally  ignorant  of  the  contemplated 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  105 

assembly  ;  and  I  do  not  think  the  students  have  any  intention 
of  disturbing  the  meeting. 

" '  Every  thing,  however,  in  our  power  will  be  done  by  the 
Faculty  as  well  as  myself  to  prevent  any  of  the  students  attend 
ing  ;  and  I  heartily  concur  with  you  in  the  hope  that  the  peace 
and  quiet  of  the  community  may  at  all  times  be  preserved. 
"  '  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  much  respect, 

"  '  Your  obedient  servant, 
« «  colonel R.  E.  LEE.  ' 

"  That  he  might  leave  no  part  of  his  duty  unperf  ormed,  the 
president  issued  the  following  address  to  the  students,  and 
had  it  posted  on  the  bulletin-board,  so  as  to  be  seen  by  all  of 
them : 

"  '  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  November  20,  1868. 

" '  It  has  been  reported  to  the  Faculty  of  Washington  College 
that  some  of  the  students  have  threatened  to  disturb  a  public 
meeting  of  the  colored  people  of  Lexington,  to  be  held  at  the 
Fair  Grounds  this  evening,  the  20th  inst. 

"  '  It  is  not  believed  that  the  students  of  this  college,  who  have 
heretofore  conducted  themselves  in  such  an  exemplary  manner, 
would  do  any  thing  to  disturb  the  public  peace,  or  bring  dis 
credit  on  themselves  or  the  institution  to  which  they  belong ;  but 
it  is  feared  that  some,  prompted  by  curiosity,  or  a  desire  to  wit 
ness  the  proceedings,  may  be  present.  The  president,  therefore, 
requests  all  students  to  abstain  from  attending  this  and  all  simi 
lar  meetings  ;  and  thinks  it  only  necessary  to  call  their  attention 
to  the  advantages  of  attending  strictly,  as  heretofore,  to  their 
important  duties  at  the  college,  and  of,  in  no  way,  interfering 
with  the  business  of  others.  From  past  experience  they  may 
feel  certain  that,  should  any  disturbance  occur,  efforts  will  be 
made  to  fix  the  blame  on  Washington  College.  It  therefore  be 
hooves  every  student  to  keep  away  from  all  such  assemblies. 
" « Respectfully, 

"  *  R.  E.  LEE,  President  of  Washington  College? 

"  Two  other  of  his  addresses  are  here  inserted,  as  illustrat 
ing  further  the  president's  method  of  operating  on  the  mind3 


j.06  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

of  the  students  either  for  the  purpose  of  reproving  them  for 
improper  acts  they  had  committed,  or  for  preventing  such  as 
he  apprehended  they  might  commit.  The  first  relates  to 
one  of  the  occurrences  so  well  known  to  all  who  reside  in 
'  college-towns,5  which,  originating  in  a  mere  desire  for  harm 
less  sport,  through  the  excitement  that  is  generated  in  their 
progress,  frequently  culminate  in  real  annoyances  to  the  com 
munity.  One  such  having  taken  place  in  Lexington,  and  the 
students  being  suspected  of  participating  in  it,  General  Lee 
issued  the  following  address,  which,  after  being  read  out  in  the 
chapel  at  the  morning  service,  was  posted  on  the  bulletin-board : 

" '  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  November  26,  1866. 

" '  The  Faculty  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  students  to 
the  disturbances  which  occurred  in  the  streets  of  Lexington  on 
the  nights  of  Friday  and  Saturday  last.  They  believe  that  none 
can  contemplate  them  with  pleasure,  or  can  find  any  reasonable 
grounds  for  their  justification.  These  acts  are  said  to  have  been 
committed  by  students  of  the  college,  with  the  apparent 'object 
of  disturbing  the  peace  and  quiet  of  a  town  whose  inhabitants 
have  opened  their  doors  for  their  reception  and  accommodation, 
and  who  are  always  ready  to  administer  to  their  comfort  and 
pleasure. 

" '  It  requires  but  little  consideration  to  see  the  error  of  such 
conduct,  which  could  only  have  proceeded  from  thoughtlessness 
and  a  want  .of  reflection.  The  Faculty  therefore  appeal  to  the 
honor  and  self-respect  of  the  students  to  prevent  any  similar  oc 
currence,  trusting  that  their  sense  of  what  is  due  to  themselves, 
their  parents,  and  the  institution  to  which  they  belong,  will  be 
more  effectual  in  teaching  them  what  is  right  and  manly,  than 
any  thing  they  can  say. 

" '  There  is  one  consideration  connected  with  these  disorderly 
proceedings,  which  the  Faculty  wish  to  bring  to  your  particular 
notice :  the  example  of  your  conduct,  and  the  advantage  taken 
of  it  by  others  to  commit  outrages  for  which  you  have  to  bear 
the  blame.  They  therefore  exhort  you  to  adopt  the  only  course 
capable  of  shielding  you  from  such  charges — the  effectual  pre 
vention  of  all  such  occurrences  in  future. 

"  '  R.  E.  LEE,  President  of  Washington  College? 


THE  COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  107 

"  The  second  of  the  addresses  referred  to  was  published  to 
the  students  the  day  preceding  Christmas.  The  pertinency 
of  it  will  be  recognized  by  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  cus 
toms  which  prevail  in  the  South.  Prior  to  General  Lee's 
connection  with  the  college,  a  recess  had  always  been  given 
at  Christinas,  of  not  less  than  eight  or  ten  days.  Coming  in 
the  midst  of  the  session,  this  was  at  best  a  serious  interrup 
tion  to  the  exercises.  But  the  evil  was  much  aggravated  by 
the  fact  that  those  students  who  visited  their  homes,  seldom 
returned  promptly  at  the  close  of  the  recess ;  and  those  who 
spent  the  recess  at  the  college,  being  released  from  the  obli 
gation  to  attend  lectures,  and  having  at  their  command  time 
they  knew  not  how  to  dispose  of,  became  the  readier  victims 
to  the  temptations  that  so  abound  at  that  season  of  the  year. 
During  General  Lee's  presidency,  the  recess  was  limited  to 
one  or  two  days.  The  following  brief  address  will  show  what 
means  he  employed  to  guard  the  students  against  the  dan 
gers  to  which  he  knew  they  would  be  exposed : 

"  '  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  YA.,  December  24,  1869. 
"  '  Academic  exercises  will  be  suspended  from  the  25th  to  the 
27th  inclusive,  to  enable  the  students  to  join  in  the  rites  and 
services  appropriate  to  the  occasion ;  and,  while  enjoying  these 
privileges  with  grateful  hearts,  all  are  urged  to  do  or  counte 
nance  nothing  which  may  disturb  the  peace,  harmony,  and  happi 
ness,  that  should  pervade  a  Christian  community. 

"  *  R,  E.  LEE,  President: 

"  It  seems  proper  here  to  remark,  with  reference  to  the 
foregoing  addresses,  or,  as  the  students  familiarly  styled 
them,  'general  orders,'  and  to  others  of  similar  character 
issued  from  tune  to  time  as  there  was  occasion  for  them,  that 
in  no  instance  did  they  fail  to  accomplish  the  end  which  the 
president  desired.  Indeed,  it  would  have  been  almost  im 
possible  for  any  student  to  have  withstood  the  moral  senti 
ment  they  created  among  the  students  at  large. 


108  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

"  GENERAL    LEE's    EFFORTS    ON    BEHALF   OF   RELIGION. 

"  In  other  parts  of  this  volume,  the  religious  character  of 
General  Lee  is  brought  prominently  into  view.  It  will  here 
be  referred  to  only  as  it  respects  his  efforts  on  behalf  of  the 
religious  welfare  of  the  students. 

"  The  passage  cited,  in  the  early  part  of  this  sketch,  from 
the  address  of  Bishop  "Wilmer,  and  several  incidents  men 
tioned  in  the  other  portions  of  the  volume,  show  that  he 
assumed  the  position  of  presiding  officer  in  the  institution 
with  the  profoundest  convictions  of  its  responsibilities  in 
view  of  the  influence  it  would  enable  him  to  exert  in  mould 
ing  the  characters  and  forming  the  habits  of  the  young  men 
under  his  charge,  in  those  higher  aspects  of  both  which  per 
tain  to  religion.  The  same  convictions  characterized  his 
administration  to  its  close. 

"  Seeing,  during  the  first  year,  that  the  chapel  of  the  col 
lege  would  not  afford  accommodations  for  the  number  of 
students  who  might  be  expected  to  attend  the  institution,  he 
urged  the  immediate  erection  of  another  and  separate  build 
ing,  to  be  devoted  to  religious  purposes.  There  were  many 
objects  calling  for  a  far  greater  outlay  of  money  than  the 
resources  of  the  college  permitted ;  but  he  regarded  this  as 
of  paramount  importance,  and  accordingly  others  were  held 
in  abeyance  to  its  prior  claims.  ,  He  chose  the  site  for  the 
new  chapel,  in  front  of  the  row  of  the  other  buildings  and 
facing  them,  in  order  that  it  might  occupy  the  more  con 
spicuous  position.  The  plan  of  the  house  was  drawn  by  him 
self  or  under  his  eye,  in  a  style  of  architecture  plain  indeed, 
but  still  more  attractive  than  that  of  the  other  buildings, 
that  even  this  incidental  honor  might  be  given  to  it.  Owing 
to  the 'deficiency  of  funds  necessary  for  its  completion,  the 
progress  of  the  work  was  retarded  much  beyond  his  expecta 
tions,  but  this  seemed  only  to  increase  his  interest  in  the 
enterprise.  He  gave  it  his  personal  superintendence,  from 
the  first  to  the  last,  visiting  it  every  dav,  and  frequently 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  109 

several  times  in  the  day.  When,  at  length,  the  house  was 
finished,  it  was  opened,  under  his  special  direction,  for  reli 
gious  worship  by  appropriate  services  conducted  by  the  pas 
tors  of  the  several  churches  in  the  town.  This  was  the  first 
of  a  series  of  public  exercises,  extending  through  five  days, 
which  were  connected  with  the  annual  commencement  of  the 
college,  and  it  was  observed  by  all  present  that  none  of  the 
exercises  which  followed  those  of  the  '  chapel  dedication ' 
seemed  to  awaken  in  his  mind  a  more  lively  sensibility  or  to 
afford  him  a  more  heart-felt  gratification.  Thereafter,  as 
indeed  had  been  previously  the  case,  no  religious  service^ 
whether  that  of  daily  worship  on  the  part  of  the  professors 
and  students,  or  occasional  worship  of  a  more  general  charac 
ter,  was  ever  held  in  the  chapel,  at  which  he  was  not  present, 
unless  when  absent  from  home  or  prevented  by  sickness.  He 
thus  gave  to  the  students  every  day  an  example  of  the  value 
he  attached  to  religion. 

"  In  the  basement  of  this  edifice  on  which  he  bestowed  so 
much  attention,  and  in  which  he  so  often  mingled  with  the 
professors  and  students  in  acts  of  divine  worship,  his  mortal 
remains  now  repose.  There  it  is  proposed  to  erect  a  mauso 
leum,  and  deposit  such  other  tributes  to  his  name  as  shall 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  great  services  to  the  college, 
and  of  the  veneration  and  love  of  his  countrymen  for  his 
character  and  deeds.  By  the  authority  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  the  entire  building  has  been  consecrated  as  a  c  Me 
morial  Chapel.' 

"  At  an  early  period  of  General  Lee's  connection  with  the 
college,  the  students  who  were  communicants  in  the  church, 
formed  an  association  among  themselves  for  the  cultiva 
tion  of  personal  piety,  and  as  the  means  of  exerting  a  favor 
able  influence  on  others.  Coming  from  different  parts  of 
the  country  and  from  different  religious  communions,  it  was 
seen  to  be  desirable  that  they  should  be  drawn  together  and 
united  in  the  fellowship  of  those  great  doctrines,  hopes,  and 
aims,  which  were  common  to  them  all.  Thus  they  would  the 


110  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

sooner  become  acquainted  with  one  another;  the  timid 
among  them  would  be  encouraged  the  more  distinctively  to 
avow  their  Christian  profession ;  opportunities  would  be  the 
more  readily  afforded  for  devotional  exercises,  at  times  and 
under  circumstances  best  suited  to  their  needs ;  and  such  of 
them  as  might  be  qualified  by  age  or  experience  for  engaging 
in  efforts  for  the  religious  welfare  of  others,  through  Sunday- 
schools  and  devotional  meetings  held  in  the  destitute  neigh 
borhoods  in  the  vicinity  of  the  college,  could  prosecute  their 
labors  with  the  greater  system  and  efficiency. 

"  It  is  not  known  whether  General  Lee  was  the  first  to 
propose  the  organization  of  this  society  in  "Washington  Col 
lege  ;  but,  if  he  did  not  suggest  it,  he  gave  it  a  warm  and  ac 
tive  encouragement  from  its  inception.  From  every  source 
accessible  to  him,  he  sought,  in  advance,  minute  information 
as  to  the  best  form  of  organization,  and  the  most  effective 
methods  of  carrying  out  its  designs.  He  made  to  its  funds 
an  annual  contribution  in  money,  and  always  a  liberal  one. 
On  at  least  one  occasion  he  placed  in  its  library  a  collection 
of  suitable  books,  which  he  had  purchased  with  that  view. 
In  his  annual  reports  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  he  always  made 
emphatic  mention  of  the  association,  and  gave  a  particular 
account  of  its  operations  and  progress,  as  data  indicating  the 
religious  condition  of  the  college,  and  as  constituting  in  part 
the  grounds  of  his  confidence  respecting  its  future  pros 
perity. 

"  There  being  no  regular  chaplain  of  the  college,  the  pas 
tors  of  the  several  churches  in  the  town  kindly  consented,  at 
General  Lee's  request,  to  hold  religious  services  every  morn 
ing  in  the  chapel,  under  such  a  division  of  the  time  as  they 
found  most  convenient  to  themselves.  The  four  largest  de 
nominations  in  the  country  had  each  a  church,  with  its  pas 
tor,  in  the  place,  so  that  this  arrangement  precluded  all  ob 
jection  on  the  score  of  sectarian  partiality  or  advantage.  It 
also  offered  to  each  of  the  students,  with  perhaps  not  two 
exceptions  out  of  a  hundred  of  them,  the  satisfaction  of  at 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  HI 

tending,  for  one  fourth  of  the  time,  on  devotional  exercises 
conducted  by  a  minister  of  the  church  of  his  parents  or  of 
his  own  preference.  A  special  advantage  resulting  from  it, 
and  one  that  the  president  sought  in  every  possible  way  to 
render  effective,  was,  that  it  created  a  tie  between  the  minis 
ters  and  the  students  similar  to  that  subsisting  between  a  pas 
tor  and  his  spiritual  charge.  This  was,  indeed,  the  idea  he 
endeavored  to  impress  on  both  of  the  parties.  Hence  he  in 
vited  the  ministers  to  visit  the  students  freely  in  their  rooms, 
and  advised  the  students  to  become  members  of  the.  Bible- 
classes  and  to  attend  the  different  services  conducted  by  the 
ministers.  The  following  letter,  which  is  only  one  of  several 
of  the  same  import  that  might  be  inserted,  will  best  exhibit 
his  views  on  this  subject : 

'"WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  September  11,  1869. 

"  '  REVEREND  AXD  DEAR  SIRS  :  Desirous  of  making  the  reli 
gious  exercises  of  the  college  advantageous  to  the  students,  and 
wishing  to  use  all  means  to  inculcate  among  them  the  principles 
of  true  religion,  the  Faculty  tender  to  you  their  cordial  thanks 
for  your  past  services,  and  request  you  to  perform  in  rotation 
the  customary  daily  exercises  at  the  college  chapel.  The  hour 
fixed  for  these  services  is  forty-five  minutes  past  seven  o'clock 
every  morning,  except  Sunday,  during  the  session,  save  the 
three  winter  months,  December,  January,  and  February,  when 
the  hour  for  prayer  will  be  forty-five  minutes  past  eight.  The 
hours  for  lectures  are  fixed  at  eight  and  nine  o'clock  respectively 
during  these  periods.  On  Sundays  the  hour  for  praver  during 
the  whole  session  is  fixed  at  nine  o'clock. 

" '  The  Faculty  also  request  that  you  will  extend  to  the  stu 
dents  a  general  invitation  to  attend  the  churches  of  their  choice 
regularly  on  Sundays  and  other  days ;  and  invite  them  to  join 
the  Bible-classes  established  in  each ;  that  you  will,  as  may  be 
convenient  and  necessary,  visit  them  in  sickness  and  in  health ; 
and  that  you  will  in  every  proper  manner  urge  upon  them  the 
great  importance  of  the  Christian  religion. 

"'The  Faculty  further  asks  that  you  will  arrange  among 
yourselves,  as  may  be  most  convenient,  the  periods  of  the  ses- 


112  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

sion  during  which  each  will  perform  chapel  services,  and  that 
during  those  periods  the  officiating  minister  will  consider  him 
self  chaplain  of  the  college,  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  reli 
gious  worship,  prayers,  etc. 

"{  The  present  session  will  open  on  the  16th  inst.,  and  close 
on  the  25th  of  June,  1870. 

" '  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"<R.  E.  LEE. 

" '  To  the  ministers  of  the  Baptist,  Episcopal,  Methodist,  and  Presbyterian 
Churches  in  Lexington,  Va.' 

"  In  order  that  the  minister  might  be  enabled  the  more 
effectively  to  carry  out  the  pious  designs  set  f ortli  in  the  fore 
going  letter,  General  Lee  was  accustomed  to  inquire  of  each 
student,  when  entering  the  college,  to  what  religions  denomi 
nation  his  parents  belonged,  or  what  church  they  usually  at 
tended.  He  would  then,  as  far  as  practicable,  introduce  the 
student  to  the  pastor  of  the  same  denomination  in  the  town, 
and  thus  from  the  beginning  seek  to  impress  the  student  with 
the  conviction  that  lie  might  enjoy  in  the  college  pastoral 
privileges  similar  to  those  he  had  enjoyed  in  the  home  of  his 
parents.  On  some  occasions,  he  was  known  to  make  a  memo 
randum  of  the  denominations  from  which  the  new  students 
came,  and  to  furnish  the  ministers  respectively  with  a  list  of 
such  as  he  desired  they  should  take  under  their  special  charge. 

"  No  public  worship,  except  the  morning  prayers  referred 
to  in  the  foregoing  letter,  was  held  in  the  chapel  on  the  Sab 
bath.  Had  the  income  of  the  college  permitted  the  employ 
ment  of  a  permanent  chaplain,  it  would  have  been  impracti 
cable  to  have  sucli  service  except  at  an  hour  which  would  have 
brought  it  into  conflict  with  the  public  services  of  one  or  more 
of  the  churches  in  the  town  ;  and  this  would  have  obliged  a 
portion  of  the  students  to  absent  themselves  either  from  the 
worship  in  the  chapel,  or  from  that  of  the  church  which  their 
parents  or  themselves  preferred  they  should  attend.  Lodg 
ing,  as  the  most  of  them  did  in  private  families,  in  all  parts 
of  the  town,  it  was  quite  as  convenient  for  them  to  attend  the 


TIIE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  113 

latter  as  the  former.  It  was  believed,  also,  that  they  would 
derive  more  profit  and  would  be  under  more  wholesome  re 
straints  from  worshiping  with  the  members  of  the  commu 
nity  in  which  they  resided,  and  of  the  families  in  which  they 
were  domiciled,  in  the  church  and  under  the  minister  of  their 
own  preference,  than  in  the  chapel  where  the  assembly  would 
consist  almost  exclusively  of  their  fellow-students,  and  where 
it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  divest  themselves  of  the  im 
pression  that  it  was  still  but  a  college  duty  on  which  they 
were  attending.  If  required  by  the  authorities  of  the  insti 
tution  to  be  present  at  the  chapel  on  the  occasion  of  such 
worship,  they  would  feel  aggrieved  that  they  were  not  per 
mitted  to  unite  with  the  congregation  of  their  own  persuasion. 
If  not  so  required,  they  would,  for  many  and  obvious  reasons, 
attend  the  church  instead  of  the  chapel,  and  leave  the  latter 
meagrely  supplied  with  worshipers.  Besides,  a  distinct  ser 
vice  in  the  chapel  would  have  gone  far  to  defeat  the  object 
the  president  had  so  much  at  heart — the  establishment  and 
growth  of  a  pastoral  sympathy  and  obligation  between  the 
ministers  of  the  town  and  the  students  of  the  college. 

"  As  would  naturally  be  inferred  from  what  has  been  stated 
respecting  the  method  which  General  Lee  pursued  in  adminis 
tering  the  discipline  of  the  college,  it  was  his  constant  aim  to 
secure  from  the  students  a  regular  attendance  on  religious 
services  through  a  conviction  of  duty,  and  an  experience  of 
the  benefits  and  enjoyment  derived  from  them,  rather  than 
by  the  interposition  of  authority  and  penalties.  And  truly 
it  may  be  said  that  he  found  much  in  the  results  of  his  policy 
to  confirm  his  opinion  of  its  propriety,  as  these  results  were 
developed  from  year  to  year  under  his  eye.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  any  measures,  compulsory  in  reality  or  in  appearance, 
that  could  have  been  adopted,  would  have  secured  so  large 
and  uniform  an  attendance  on  public  worship.  Certainly, 
they  would  not  have  secured  an  attendance  so  favorable  to 
the  highest  spiritual  benefit.  The  demeanor  of  the  students 
during  worship  was  characterized  by  so  much  decorum,  and 
8 


114:  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

evinced  so  deep  an  interest  in  the  services,  as  to  have  been 
the  subject  of  frequent  remarks  alike  by  citizens  and  stran 
gers — it  presented  so  striking  a  contrast  to  what  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  witness  among  the  same  class,  when  under 
the  operation  of  a  different  management.  The  reader  will 
find  a  full  confirmation  of  these  remarks  in  the  following 
extract  from  General  Lee's  last  Annual  Report  to  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  dated  the  21st  of  June,  1870  : 

"  '  Prayers  have  been  offered  every  morning  in  the  college 
chapel  by  clergymen  of  the  different  denominations  in  Lex 
ington,  who  volunteered  at  the  beginning  of  the  session  to 
perform  this  service  in  rotation.  The  students  were  in  this 
way  introduced  to  their  acquaintance,  and  were  invited  to  at 
tend  the  churches  of  their  preference,  and  to  join  Bible-classes 
organized  in  each  for  their  instruction.  They  are  thus  early 
surrounded  by  favorable  influences  which  in  many  cases  end 
in  the  happiest  results.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Associ 
ation  of  the  college  continues  to  prosper,  and  is  productive 
of  much  good.  There  are  eighty-eight  members  of  the  asso 
ciation  this  year.  There  is  an  assembly  for  prayer  every 
night,  and  a  general  prayer-meeting  once  a  week.  A  Sabbath- 
school  house  has  been  built  near  House  Mountain  by  the  as 
sociation,  and  a  Sunday-school  organized  near  Thorn  Hill. 
Fifty  students  are  engaged  in  teaching  in  Sunday-schools  and 
Bible-classes.  There  are  twenty-one  candidates  for  the  min 
istry  in  the  college  this  year,  and  one  hundred  and  nine 
church-members,  nineteen  of  whom  have  joined  the  churches 
in  Lexington  during  this  session.  A  general  and  active  re 
ligious  feeling  exists  among  the  students,  and  missionary 
meetings  are  held  once  a  month.' 

"  The  following  brief  letter,  so  characteristic  of  the  writer 
in  the  beauty  and  comprehensiveness  of  its  diction,  will  form 
i  fitting  close  to  the  subject  now  in  hand  : 

"'LEXINGTON,  September  19,  1867. 

"  '  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  beg  you  will  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for 
the  beautiful  Bible  which  you  have  presented  to  me — a  book 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT. 


115 


which  sillies  the  place  of  all  others,  and  one  that  cannot  be  re 
placed  by  any  other.     I  will  place  it  in  the  chapel  of  Washington 
College,  as  you  desire,  where  I  trust  its  simple  truths  will  be 
laily  learned  and  thoroughly  appreciated  by  all  the  students. 
Very  respectfully,  R.  E.  LEE. 


„ 

u  < 

"  *  Colonel  F.  R.  FARRAR.' 


"  Much  might  be  said  and  many  facts  cited  in  illustration 
of  General  Lee's  invariable  courtesy  and  kindness  to  those 
who  were  associated  with  him  in  the  daily  conduct  of  the 
college,  of  his  delicate  consideration  for  their  feelings  and 
convenience,  and  of  his  special  regard  to  whatever  might 
tend  to  uphold  and  strengthen  their  influence  over  the  stu 
dents.  Of  all  this,  and  of  the  many  acts  of  his  unselfish  de 
votion  to  the  institution  which  they  witnessed  and  in  whose 
benefits  they  themselves  largely  shared,  they  will  carry  with 
them  to  their  graves  the  most  tender  and  grateful  recollec 
tions.  But  these  things  are  of  a  nature  to  be  laid  up  and 
cherished  in  the  sanctuary  of  their  own  bosoms.  It  is  scarcely 
proper  to  expose  them  to  the  eye  of  the  public. 

"  There  is,  however,  one  fact  in  his  official  relations  to  the 
college  that  presents  an  aspect  of  his  character  it  would  not 
seem  right  to  conceal.  During  the  last  winter  of  his  presi 
dency,  his  health  began  to  decline  in  a  way  that  excited 
alarm  among  his  friends.  They  privately  urged  hirfl  to  lay 
aside  his  work  and  try  the  effect  of  travel  and  a  sojourn  in  a 
warmer  latitude.  With  his  wonted  gentleness  of  manner, 
and  yet  with  a  tone  indicating  a  firmness  of  purpose  not  to 
by  mistaken,  he  declined  to  adopt  their  advice.  The  pro 
fessors,  suspecting  that  his  reluctance  arose  from  an  unwill 
ingness  by  his  absence  to  impose  additional  labor  and  respon 
sibility  on  them,  united  in  a  formal  request  to  the  same  pur 
port,  accompanying  the  request  with  a  scheme  for  so  distrib 
uting  the  duties  of  his  office  among  themselves  that,  for  the 
month  or  two  of  his  absence,  no  onerous  burden  would  de 
volve  on  any  of  them,  and  no  serious  detriment  result  to 
the  college.  He  saw  that  his  compliance  would  gratify  them, 


116  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

and  lie  yielded  without  further  objection.  During  his  ab 
sence,  the  Board  of  Trustees  convened,  and  determined  that 
the  time  had  come  for  distinctly  announcing  to  him  a  pur 
pose  they  had  previously  formed — that  of  providing  a  home 
for  his  family,  with  an  annuity  for  their  support.  They  re 
garded  this  as  a  simple  act  of  justice — a  debt  they  owed  him 
of  far  higher  sanction  than  any  mere  legal  obligation  could 
confer.  His  response  to  the  announcement  appears  in  the 
following  letter  written  after  his  return  from  the  South  : 

" '  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  VA.,  May  28,  1870. 
" '  Hon.  JOHN  W.  BROCKENBROUGH,  Rector  Washington  College,  Va. 

" ;  MY  DEAR  SIB  :  I  received  with  feelings  of  deepest  grati 
tude  the  resolutions  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Washington 
College,  at  their  meeting  on  the  19th  ult.  The  warm  sympathy 
expressed  at  my  sickness,  and  the  cordial  approval  of  my  ab 
sence,  rendered  more  grateful  to  me  the  generous  provision  for 
the  support  of  my  family.  Though  fully  sensible  of  the  kind 
ness  of  the  Board,  and  justly  appreciating  the  manner  in  which 
they  sought  to  administer  to  my  relief,  I  am  unwilling  that  my 
family  should  become  a  tax  to  the  college,  but  desire  that  all 
its  funds  should  be  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  education.  I 
know  that  my  wishes  on  this  subject  are  equally  shared  by  my 
wife,  and  I  therefore  request  that  the  provisions  of  the  fourth  and 
fifth  resolutions,  adopted  at  the  session  of  the  19th  of  April,  may 
not  be  carried  into  effect.  I  feel  full  assurance  that,  in  case  a 
competency  should  not  be  left  to  my  wife,  her  children  would 
never  suffer  her  to  want. 

" ;  With  my  warmest  gratitude  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  and  my  special  thanks  for  the  kind  manner  in 
which  you  have  communicated  to  me  their  action, 

" '  I  am,  with  the  highest  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  <  R.  E.  LEE.' 

"  With  reference  to  the  subject  of  the  foregoing  letter,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  state  that  the  Board  of  Trustees,  in  terms 
of  the  utmost  respect  and  delicacy,  declined  to  recede  from 
the  position  they  had  taken,  and  thus  the  matter  stood  at  the 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  117 

time  of  General  Lee's  death.  But  Mrs.  Lee,  catching  the 
spirit  of  her  illustrious  husband,  always  declined  the  annuity 
until  her  lamented  death  settled  the  question. 

"Another  letter  from  General  Lee  must  be  given.  It 
places  in  a  strong  light  the  same  aspect  of  his  character  which 
is  exhibited  in  the  one  just  inserted.  But  it  does  far  more. 
It  reveals  more  clearly  and  deeply  the  inner  man  in  several 
of  its  most  striking  traits,  than  any  thing  that  has  yet  been 
published  from  his  pen.  It  sets  forth  his  views  of  the  great 
needs  of  the  institution  to  which  he  devoted  the  anxieties 
and  labors  of  the  last  five  years  of  his  life  and  proposed  to 
devote  all  of  whatever  years,  few  or  many,  Providence  should 
allot  to  him.  It  breathes  the  spirit  of  pure  and  enlightened 
patriotism — the  true  love  of  country — for  which  the  wise 
and  good  of  the  land  admired  him  while  living  and  now 
revere  his  memory.  It  answers  the  question  which  has  so 
often  been  asked  by  his  loving  countrymen  :  ;  "Was  General 
Lee  contented  and  happy  in  the  position  and  employments  of 
his  latter  days  ? '  It  is  doubted  whether  in  the  whole  range 
of  epistolary  literature  any  thing  can  be  found  that  tells 
more  in  the  same  compass,  and  tells  it  more  beautifully.  The 
distinguished  gentleman  to  whom  the  letter  is  addressed, 
and  who  is  honored  by  the  expressions  of  confidence  and 
affection  it  contains,  has  since  passed  to  his  reward,  and 
there  is,  therefore,  no  impropriety  in  copying  the  letter  in 
full  from  the  private  letter-book  of  the  writer. 

"  '  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  3,  1868. 
"  c  MY  DEAK  GENERAL  :  I  have  just  seen  a  letter  from  Gen 
eral  Lilly,  stating  that  you  bad  given  five  hundred  dollars  to  the 
endowment  of  Washington  College,  \vith  the  condition  that  it 
be  applied  to  increasing  my  salary.  This  generous  donation  on 
your  part  was  not  necessary  to  convince  me  of  the  lively  inter 
est  you  retain  for  the  institutions  of  your  native  State,  or  of 
your  friendly  consideration  for  myself.  I  fully  appreciate  the 
kind  motives  which  prompted  you  thus  to  appropriate  it.  But, 
when  I  tell  you  that  I  already  receive  a  larger  amount  from  the 


118  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

college  than  my  services  are  worth,  you  will  see  the  propriety 
of  my  not  consenting  that  it  should  be  increased. 

" '  The  great  want  of  the  college  is  more  extensive  buildings, 
suitable  libraries,  cabinets,  philosophical  and  chemical  appara 
tus,  etc.  A  liberal  endowment  will  enable  it  to  enlarge  the 
means  of  its  usefulness,  to  afford  the  facilities  of  education  to 
worthy  young  men  who  might  not  otherwise  obtain  one,  and,  as 
we  must  look  to  the  rising  generation  for  the  restoration  of  the 
country,  it  can  do  more  good  in  this  way  than  in  any  other. 

" '  I  hope,  now  that  your  care  and  toils  are  over,  that  your 
health,  under  the  pleasing  influences  of  your  present  life,  has 
been  greatly  improved.  For  my  own  part,  I  much  enjoy  the 
charms  of  civil  life,  and  find  too  late  that  I  have  wasted  the  best 
years  of  my  existence. 

"  i  I  beg  that  you  will  remember  me  most  kindly  to  Mrs. 
Evvell,  Mrs.  Turner,  and  Major  Brown;  and  believe  me,  truly, 

"'  Your  friend,  R  E.  LEE. 

"  '  General  R.  S.  EWELL.'  " 

The  other  paper  to  which  allusion  is  made  above  was 
prepared  by  the  facile  pen  of  Prof.  Edward  S.  Joynes, 
and  was  published,  soon  after  General  Lee's  death,  in  the 
University  Monthly.  Although  touching  on  some  of  the 
points  presented  by  Dr.  Kirkpatrick,  it  will  be  read  with 
deep  interest,  especially  by  those  in  any  way  connected  with 
the  great  cause  of  education : 

"  .  .  .  .  General  Lee  accepted  the  presidency  of  Washing 
ton  College,  in  the  first  place,  from  a  profound  and  deliber 
ate  sense  of  duty.  The  same  high  principle  of  action  that 
had  characterized  his  conduct  in  the  gravest  crises  of  public 
affairs,  marked  his  decision  here ;  and  here,  as  ever,  dufy 
alone  determined  his  choice.  There  was  absolutely  nothing 
in  this  position  that  could  have  tempted  him.  Not  only  was 
it  uncongenial  with  all  the  habits  of  his  past  life,  and  remote 
from  all  the  associations  in  which  he  had  formally  takeu 
pleasure ;  but  it  was,  at  that  time,  most  uninviting  in  itself. 
The  college  to  which  he  was  called  was  broken  in  fortune 


THE  COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  119 

and  in  hope.  The  war  had  practically  closed  its  doors.  Its 
buildings  had  been  pillaged  and  defaced,  and  its  library  scat 
tered.  It  had  now  neither  money  nor  credit,  and  it  was 
even  doubtful  whether  it  would  be  shortly  reopened  at  all 
for  the  reception  of  students.  The  Faculty  were  few  in 
number,  disorganized,  and  dispirited.  Of  the  slender  endow 
ment  that  had  survived  the  war,  hardly  any  thing  was  avail 
able,  and  ready  money  could  not  be  secured  even  for  the 
most  immediate  and  pressing  .wants  of  the  college.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  offer  of  the  presidency  to  General 
Lee  seemed  wellnigh  presumptuous;  and  surely  it  was  an 
offer  from  which  he  had  nothing  to  expect  either  of  fortune 
or  of  fame.  The  men,  however,  who  had  made  this  election, 
the  Trustees  of  Washington  College — ever  honored  be  their 
memory  for  their  noble  conception! — had  not  calculated 
in  vain  in  their  estimate  of  General  Lee's  character.  They 
felt  that  his  position,  however  humble  it  might  seem,  would 
afford  to  him  what  from  their  knowledge  of  the  man  they 
felt  would  be  the  most  acceptable  to  him — a  sphere  of  duty, 
in  which  he  could  spend  his  days  in  the  service  of  his  beloved 
people ;  and,  though  the  country  looked  on  astonished  and 
incredulous,  the  result  showed  that  they  had  not  been  mis 
taken. 

"  General  Lee  received  the  announcement,  which  was 
conveyed  to  him  in  person  by  the  rector,  Hon.  John  W. 
Brockenbrough,  with  surprise  and  with  deep  feeling.  He  was 
at  first  disposed  to  decline  the  offer ;  but  the  disti  aguished 
Virginian  who  represented  the  trustees  urged  it  upon  him. 
and  dwelt  earnestly  upon  the  high  motives  which  had 
prompted  their  choice.  These  w^ere  motives  to  which  Gen 
eral  Lee  could  not  be  indifferent ;  and  at  last,  reserving  his 
answer,  he  promised  to  reflect  upon  the  subject.  Here,  as 
ever,  he  was  deliberate  as  well  as  conscientious.  Finally, 
after  several  days'  consideration,  he  accepted  the  position 
Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  it  was  a  deliberate  sense  of  duty  to 
his  fellow-countrymen,  and  a  desire  to  pay  back,  as  far  as  he 


120  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

could,  through  their  sons,  the  sufferings  and  sorrows  of  his 
own  generation  in  the  South,  that  determined  his  decision. 
He  had  already  fully  resolved  not  to  leave  Virginia  under 
any  circumstances  ;  and  this  position,  humble  as  it  seemed  to 
be,  gave  him  the  wished-for  opportunity  of  laboring  for  her 
people,  and  for  the  South.  Therefore  he  accepted  it. 

"  The  profound  sense  of  duty  which  marked  General  Lee's 
acceptance  of  this  office,  characterized  also  his  whole  adminis 
tration  of  it.     He  entertained  the  profoundest  convictions  on 
the  importance  of  educational  influences,  both  to  individuals 
and  to  the  country,  and  the  deepest  sense  of  personal  respon 
sibility  in  his  own  office.     He  felt  that  an  institution  like 
Washington  College  owed  duty,  not  only  to  its  own  students, 
but  to  the  whole  country ;  and  that  its  moral  obligations  were 
not  only  supreme  within  its  own  sphere,  but  were  attached  to 
the  wider  interests  of  public  virtue  and  of  true  religion,  among 
all  the  people.     Everybody  around   him  felt  unconsciously 
that  he  was  actuated  by  these  principles,  and  all  were  im 
pressed  by  his  high  conceptions  of  duty,  and  the  singleness  of 
his  devotion  to  it.     Nothing  else,  indeed,  could  have  sustained 
him  so  serenely  through  so  many  and  so  constant  details  of 
labor  and  of  trial.     Nothing  else,  in  such  a  man,  could  have 
held  his  thoughts  so  high  or  kept  his  heart  so  strong,  in  the 
midst  of  daily  tasks,  always  so  severe,  often  so  trivial  and 
discouraging.     But  he  never  flagged  ;  and,  though  he  fully 
comprehended  the  difficulties  of  his  office,  and  was  often 
wearied  with  its  incessant  labors,  no  word  of  despondency 
fell  from  his  lips.     He  felt  that  he  was  doing  his  duty.     c  I 
have,5  he  said,  as  reported  by  the  Hon.  Mr.  Billiard,  '  a  self- 
imposed  task,  which  I  cannot  forsake  ; '  and  in  this  spirit  he 
met  all  the  details  of  his  daily  labors  cheerfully  to  the  last. 
Again  and  again,  during  his  life  at  Lexington,  were  tempting 
offers  urged  upon  him — offers  of  large  income,  with  com 
parative  ease  and  more  active  and  congenial  employment ; 
but,  though  he  fully  appreciated  these  considerations,  and 
was  not   indifferent   to   the   attractions  presented  by  such 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  121 

offers,  he  turned  from  them  all,  with  the  same  reply.  He 
had  chosen  his  post  of  duty,  and  he  clung  to  it.  Year  by 
year  the  conception  of  his  duty  seemed  to  grow  stronger  with 
him ;  and  year  by  year,  the  college,  as  its  instrument  and 
representative,  grew  dearer  to  him.  And  as,  gradually,  the 
fruits  of  his  labors  began  to  be  manifest,  and  the  moral  and 
intellectual  results  of  his  influence  approved  themselves  even 
to  his  own  modest  self-estimate,  his  heart  grew  only  warmer, 
and  his  zeal  more  earnest  in  his  work. 

"  His  sense  of  personal  duty  was  also  expanded  into  a 
warmer  solicitude  for  all  who  were  associated  with  him. 
To  the  Faculty  he  was  as  an  elder  brother,  beloved  and 
revered,  and  full  of  all  tender  sympathy.  To  the  students 
he  was  as  a  father,  in  carefulness,  in  encouragement,  in 
reproof.  Their  welfare,  and  their  conduct  and  character  as 
gentlemen,  were  his  chief  concern ;  and  this  solicitude  was  not 
limited  to  their  collegiate  years,  but  followed  them  abroad 
into  life.  He  thought  it  to  be  the  office  of  a  college  not 
merely  to  educate  the  intellect,  but  to  make  Christian  men. 
The  moral  and  religious  character  of  the  students  was  more 
precious  in  his  eyes  even  than  their  intellectual  progress,  and 
was  made  the  special  object  of  his  constant  personal  solicitude. 
In  his  annual  reports  to  the  trustees,  which  are  models  of 
clear  and  dignified  composition,  he  always  dwelt  with  pecul 
iar  emphasis  upon  these  interests ;  and  nothing  in  the  col 
lege  gratified  him  more  than  its  marked  moral  and  religious 
improvement  during  his  administration.  To  the  Rev.  Dr. 
White  he  said,  as  affectingly  narrated  by  that  venerable  min 
ister  soon  after  his  death :  '  I  shall  be  disappointed,  sir — I 
shall  fail  in  the  leading  object  that  brought  me  here,  unless 
these  young  men  all  become  consistent  Christians.'  Other 
expressions,  bearing  eloquent  witness  to  the  same  truth, 
might  be  quoted  ;  but  none  could  be  more  eloquent  than  the 
steady  tenor  of  his  own  life,  quietly  yet  constantly  devoted 
to  the  highest  ends  of  duty  and  of  religion. 

"  Such  were  the  principles  which  actuated  General  Lee, 


1.22  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

as  President  of  Washington  College ;  and  their  effects  showed 
themselves  in  all  the  details  of  his  administration.  In  the 
discipline  of  the  college  his  moral  influence  was  supreme. 
A  disciplinarian,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  as  it  is 
often  most  unworthily  applied,  he  was  not.  He  was  no 
seeker-out  of  small  offenses,  no  stickler  for  formal  regulations. 
In  the  construction  of  college  rules,  and  in  his  dealing  with 
actions  generally,  he  was  most  liberal ;  but  in  his  estimate  of 
motives,  and  in  the  requirement  of  principle  and  honor,  he 
was  exacting  to  the  last  degree.  Youthful  indiscretion 
found  in  him  the  most  lenient  of  judges ;  but  falsehood  or 
meanness  had  no  toleration  with  him.  He  looked  rather  to 
the  principles  of  good  conduct  than  to  mere  outward  acts. 
He  was  most  scrupulous  in  exacting  a  proper  obedience  to 
lawful  authority ;  but  he  was  always  the  last  to  condemn, 
and  the  most  just  to  hear  the  truth,  even  in  behalf  of  the 
worst  offender.  Hence  in  the  use  of  college  punishment  he 
was  cautious,  forbearing,  and  lenient ;  but  he  was  not  the  less 
firm  in  his  demands,  and  prompt,  when  need  was,  in  his 
measures.  His  reproof  was  stern,  yet  kind,  and  often  even 
melting  in  its  tenderness  ;  and  his  appeals,  always  addressed 
to  the  noblest  motives,  were  irresistible.  The  hardiest 
offenders  were  alike  awed  by  his  presence,  and  moved,  often 
even  to  tears,  by  his  word ;  aud  there  was  no  student  who 
did  not  dread  a  reproof  from  General  Lee  more  than  every 
other  punishment.  In  all  his  official  action,  and  indeed  in  all 
his  intercourse  with  the  students,  he  looked  to  the  elevation 
of  the  tone  of  principle  and  opinion  among  themselves,  as 
the  vital  source  of  good  conduct,  rather  than  to  the  simple 
repression  of  vice.  His  discipline  was  moral  rather  than 
punitive.  Hence  there  were  few  cases  of  dismission,  or  other 
severe  punishment,  during  his  administration ;  and  hence, 
also,  the  need  for  such  punishments  became  ever  less  and  less. 
The  influence  of  this  policy,  aided  especially  by  the  mighty 
influence  of  his  personal  character,  was  all-powerful.  The 
elevation  of  tone,  and  the  improvement  in  conduct,  were 


THE  COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  123 

steady  and  rapid.  Immediately  after  the  war,  the  young 
men  of  the  South  were  wild  and  unrestrained,  and  acts  of 
disorder  were  frequent ;  in  the  latter  years  of  his  administra 
tion  hardly  a  single  case  of  serious  discipline  occurred.  We 
doubt,  indeed,  whether  at  any  other  college  in  the  world  so 
many  young  men  could  have  been  found  as  free  from  mis 
conduct,  or  marked  by  as  high  a  tone  of  feeling  and  opinion, 
as  were  the  students  of  "Washington  College  during  these 
latter  years  of  General  Lee's  life.  The  students  felt  this,  and 
were  proud  of  it ;  and  they  were  proud  of  themselves  and  of 
their  college,  as  representatives  of  the  character  and  influence 
of  Lee. 

"  Yet  not  the  less  was  he  rigidly  exacting  of  duty,  and 
scrupulously  attentive  to  details.  By  a  system  of  reports, 
weekly  and  monthly — almost  military  in  their  exactness — 
which  he  required  of  each  professor,  he  made  himself  acquaint 
ed  with  the  standing  and  progress  of  every  student  in  every 
one  of  his  classes.  These  reports  he  studied  carefully,  and 
was  quick  to  detect  shortcomings.  He  took  care,  also,  to 
make  himself  acquainted  with  each  student  personally,  to 
know  his  studies,  his  boarding-house,  his  associations,  dis 
position,  and  habits ;  and,  though  he  never  obtruded  this 
knowledge,  the  students  knew  that  he  possessed  it,  and  that 
his  interest  followed  them  everywhere.  Nor  was  it  a  moral 
influence  alone  that  he  exerted  in  the  college.  He  was  equally 
careful  of  its  intellectual  interests.  He  watched  the  progress 
of  every  class,  attended  all  the  examinations,  and  strove  con 
stantly  to  stimulate  both  professors  and  students  to  the  high 
est  attainments.  The  whole  college,  in  a  word,  felt  his 
influence  as  an  ever-present  motive,  and  his  character  was 
quietly  yet  irresistibly  impressed  upon  it,  not  only  in  the 
general  working  in  all  its  departments,  but  in  all  the  detail? 
of  each. 

"  Of  this  influence,  General  Lee,  modest  as  he  was,  was 
perfectly  aware,  and,  like  a  prudent  ruler,  he  husbanded  it  with 
a  wise  economy.  He  preferred  to  confine  his  direct  interposi- 


124  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

tion  to  purely  personal  acts ;  and  rarely,  and  then  only  on  criti 
cal  occasions,  did  he  step  forward  to  present  himself  before  the 
whole  body  of  students  in  the  full  dignity  of  his  presidential 
office.  On  these  occasions,  which  in  the  latter  years  hardly 
ever  occurred,  he  would  quietly  post  an  address  to  the  stu 
dents,  in  which,  appealing  only  to  the  highest  principles  of 
conduct,  he  sought  to  dissuade  them  from  threatened  evil. 
These  addresses,  which  the  boys  designated  as  his  <  general 
orders]  were  always  of  immediate  efficacy.  No  single  cas3 
ever  occurred  in  which  they  failed  of  instant  and  complete 
effect ;  and  no  student  would  have  been  tolerated  by  his  fel 
low-students  who  would  have  dared  to  disregard  such  an  ap 
peal  from  General  Lee.  .  .  . 

"  General  Lee  was  also  most  laborious  in  the  duties  of  his 
office  as  a  college  president.  He  gave  himself  wholly  to  his 
work.  His  occupations  were  constant,  almost  incessant.  He 
went  to  his  office  daily  at  eight  o'clock,  and  rarely  returned 
home  until  one  or  two.  During  this  time,  he  was  almost 
incessantly  engaged  in  college  matters,  giving  his  personal 
attention  to  the  minutest  details,  and  always  reatiy  to  receive 
visitors  on  college  business.  It  has  sometimes  been  sneer- 
ingly  alleged  that  General  Lee  was  only  a  figure-head  st 
Washington  College,  kept  there  merely  for  the  attraction  of 
his  splendid  name.  Never  was  slander  more  false  ;  for  it 
was  a  slander  upon  him,  more  even  than  a  slur  upon  the 
college.  Never  was  a  college  president  more  laborious  than 
he.  He  gave  all  his  powers  entirely  to  his  work.  Though 
ably  assisted  by  subordinate  officers,  whom  he  well  knew  how 
to  employ,  he  yet  had  an  eye  for  the  supervision  of  every 
detail.  The  buildings,  the  repairs,  the  college  walks  and 
grounds,  the  wood-yard,  the  mess-hall,  all  received  his  atten 
tion,  and  a  large  portion  of  his  time  was  given  to  the  purely 
business  affairs  of  the  college.  His  office  was  always  open 
to  students  or  professors,  all  of  whose  interests  received  his 
ready  consideration.  Hi  a  correspondence  meanwhile  was 
very  heavy,  yet  no  letter  that  called  for  an  answer  was  ever 


THE  COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  125 

neglected.  It  has  been  recently  stated  by  an  editor  that,  to  a 
circular  letter  of  general  educational  interest,  addressed  by 
him  to  a  large  number  of  college  presidents,  General  Lee  was 
the  only  one  that  replied  ;  yet  he  was  the  greatest  and  per 
haps  the  busiest  of  them  all.  In  addition  to  the  formal 
circulars,  which  he  always  revised  and  signed  himself,  his 
correspondence  with  the  parents  and  guardians  of  students 
was  intimate  and  explicit,  on  every  occasion  that  required 
such  correspondence.  Many  of  these  letters  are  models  of 
beautiful  composition  and  noble  sentiment.  .  .  . 

"  But  General  Lee  was  not  only  earnest  and  laborious, 
he  was  also  able,  as  a  college  president.  He  was  perfectly 
master  of  the  situation,  and  thoroughly  wise  and  skillful  in 
all  its  duties  of  organization  and  of  policy,  as  well  as  of  detail. 
JTo  this  let  the  results  of  his  administration  bear  testimony. 
He  found  the  college  practically  bankrupt,  disorganized, 
deserted  ;  he  left  it  rich,  strong,  and  crowded  with  students. 
It  was  not  merely  numbers  that  he  brought  to  it,  for  these 
his  great  fame  alone  would  have  attracted ;  he  gave  it 
organization,  unity,  energy,  and  practical  success.  In  enter 
ing  upon  his  presidency,  he  seemed  at  once  fully  to  compre 
hend  the  wants  of  the  college ;  and  its  history  during  the 
next  five  years  was  but  the  development  of  his  plans  and  the 
reflection  of  his  wise  energy.  And  these  plans  were  not 
fragmentary,  nor  was  this  energy  merely  an  industrious  zeal. 
He  had  from  the  beginning  a  distinct  policy,  which  he  had 
fully  conceived,  and  to  which  he  steadily  adhered  ;  so  that  all 
his  particular  measures  of  progress  were  but  consistent  steps 
in  its  development.  His  object  was  nothing  less  than  to 
establish  and  perfect  an  institution  which  should  meet  the 
highest  needs  of  education  in  every  department.  At  once, 
and  without  waiting  for  the  means  to  be  provided  in  advance, 
he  proceeded  to  develop  this  object.  Under  his  advice  new 
chairs  were  created,  and  professors  called  to  fill  them ;  so 
that,  before  the  end  of  the  first  year,  the  Faculty  was  doubled 
in  numbers.  Still  additional  chairs  were  created,  and  finally 


126  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

a  complete  system  of  schools  was  established  and  brought 
into  full  operation.     To  these  schools,  or  distinct  departments, 
each  one  of  which  was  complete  in  itself  and  under  the  in 
dividual   control  of  its  own  professor,  he  gave  a  compact 
and  unique  organization  into  a  system  of  complete  courses, 
with  corresponding  diplomas  and   degrees,  which,  securing 
the  perfect  distinctness*  and    responsibility  of  each  school, 
gave  a  perfect  unity  to  them  all.     These   courses  were  so 
adapted  and  mutually  arranged,  under  their  common  organi 
zation  and  his  general  control,  as  to  escape  alike  the  errors  of 
the  purely  elective  system  on  the  one  hand  and  of  the  close 
curriculum  on  the  other,  and  to  secure,  by  a  happy  com 
promise,  the  best  advantages  of  both.      So  admirably  was 
tliis  plan  conceived  and  administered  by  General  Lee  that, 
heterogeneous  as  were  the  students,  especially  in  the  earlier 
years,  each  one  found  at  once  his  proper  place,  and  all  were 
kept  in  the  line  of  complete  and  systematic  study.     Under 
this  organization,  and  especially  under  the  inspiration  of  his 
central  influence,  the  utmost  harmony  and  the  utmost  energy 
pervaded  all  the  departments  of  the  college.     The  highest 
powers  of  both  professors  and  students  were   called  forth, 
under  the  fullest  responsibility.     The  standards  of  scholar 
ship   were   rapidly  advanced ;   and   soon  the   graduates   of 
Washington  College  were  the  acknowledged  equals  of  those 
from  the  best  institutions  elsewhere,  and  were  eagerly  sought 
after  for  the  highest  positions  as  teachers  in  the  best  schools. 
These  results,  which,  even  in  the  few  years  of  his  administra 
tion,  had  become  universally  acknowledged  throughout  the 
South,  were  due,  directly  and  immediately,  more  than  to  all 
other  causes,  to  the  personal  ability  and  influence  of  General 
Lee  as  president  of  the  college. 

"  General  Lee's  plans  for  the  development  of  "Washington 
College  were  not  simply  progressive ;  they  were  distinct  and 
definite.  He  aimed  to  make  this  college  represent  at  once 
the  wants  and  the  genius  of  the  country.  He  fully  realized 
the  needs  of  the  present  age,  and  he  desired  to  adapt  the 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  127 

education  of  the  people  to  their  condition  and  their  destiny. 
He  was  the  ardent  advocate  of  complete  classical  and  literary 
culture.  Under  his  influence,  the  classical  and  literary  schools 
of  the  college  were  fully  sustained.  Yet  he  recognized  the 
fact  that  material  well-being  is,  for  a  people,  a  condition  of  all 
high  civilization,  and  therefore,  though  utterly  out  of  sym 
pathy  with  the  modern  advocates  of  materialistic  education, 
he  sought  to  provide  all  the  means  for  the  development  of 
science,  and  for  its  practical  applications.  He  thought,  indeed, 
that  the  best  antidote  to  the  materialistic  tendencies  of  a 
purely  scientific  training  was  to  be  found  in  the  liberalizing 
influences  of  literary  culture,  and  that  scientific  and  pro 
fessional  schools  could  best  be  taught  when  surrounded  by 
the  associations  of  a  literary  institution.  He  sought,  there 
fore,  to  establish  this  mutual  connection,  and  to  consolidate 
all  the  departments  of  literary,  scientific,  and  professional 
education  under  a  common  organization.  Hence,  at  an 
early  day,  he  called  into  existence  the  Schools  of  Applied 
Mathematics  and  Engineering,  and  of  Law,  as  part  of  the 
collegiate  organization ;  and,  later,  he  submitted  to  the  trus 
tees  a  plan  for  the  complete  development  of  the  scientific 
and  professional  departments  of  the  college,  which  will  ever 
remain  as  an  example  of  his  enlarged  wisdom,  and  which  has 
anticipated,  by  many  years,  we  fear,  the  practical  attainments 
of  any  school  in  this  country.  In  addition  to  all  the  other 
reasons  for  mourning  the  death  of  Lee,  it  is  to  be  deeply  re 
gretted,  not  only  for  Washington  College,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  education  of  the  country,  that  he  did  not  live  to  com 
plete  his  great  designs.  Had  he  done  so,  he  would  probably 
have  left  behind  him  an  institution  of  learning  which  would 
have  been  a  not  less  illustrious  monument  of  his  character  than 
his  most  brilliant  military  achievements.  As  it  is,  Wash 
ington  College,  henceforth  forever  associated  with  his  name, 
will  also  be  inseparably  associated  with  the  memory  of  his 
noble  influence  and  of  his  wise  and  far-sighted  plans.  Had 
this  been  the  profession  of  his  life,  General  Lee  would  have 


128  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

been  not  less  famous,  relatively,  among  college  presidents 
than  he  is  now  among  soldiers.  Now,  after  having  won,  in 
other  fields,  a  world-wide  fame,  he  has,  in  this  last  labor  of 
his  life,  displayed  an  ability  and  developed  a  power  for  the 
highest  achievements,  such  as  form  no  small  part  of  the 
fame  even  of  his  distinguished  career. 

"  Such,  briefly  and  imperfectly  sketched,  was  General  Lee 
as  a  college  president.  And  surely  this  part  of  his  life  de 
serves  to  be  remembered  and  commemorated  by  those  who 
hold  his  memory  dear.  In  it  he  exhibited  all  those  great 
qualities  of  character  which  had  made  his  name  already  so 
illustrious  ;  while,  in  addition,  he  sustained  trials  and  sorrows 
without  which  the  highest  perfections  of  that  character  could 
never  have  been  so  signally  displayed.  This  life  at  Washing- 
ington  College,  so  devoted,  so  earnest,  so  laborious,  so  full  of 
far-reaching  plans  and  of  wise  and  successful  effort,  was 
begun  under  the  weight  of  a  disappointment  which  might 
have  broken  any  ordinary  strength,  and  was  maintained,  in 
the  midst  of  public  and  private  misfortune,  with  a  serene  pa 
tience,  and  a  mingled  firmness  and  sweetness  of  temper,  that 
give  additional  brilliancy  even  to  the  glory  of  his  former  fame. 
It  was  his  high  privilege  to  meet  alike  the  temptations  and 
perils  of  the  highest  stations  before  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and 
the  cares  and  labors  of  the  most  responsible  duties  of  private 
life,  under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  and  to  exhibit  in 
all  alike  the  qualities  of  a  great  and  consistent  character, 
founded  in  the  noblest  endowments,  and  sustained  by  the 
loftiest  principles  of  virtue  and  religion.  It  is  a  privilege 
henceforth  for  the  teachers  of  our  country  that  their  pro 
fession,  in  its  humble  yet  arduous  labors,  its  great  and  its 
petty  cares,  has  been  illustrated  by  the  devotion  of  such  a 
man.  It  is  an  honor  for  all  our  colleges  that  one  of  them  is 
henceforth  identified  with  the  memory  of  his  name  and  of  his 
work.  It  is  a  boon  for  us  all ;  an  honor  to  the  country, 
which  in  its  whole  length  and  breadth  will  soon  be  proud  to 
claim  his  fame ;  an  honor  to  human  nature  itself,  that  this 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENT.  129 

great  character,  so  often  and  so  severely  tried,  has  thus  ap 
proved  itself  consistent,  serene,  and  grand,  alike  in  peace  and 
in  war,  in  the  humblest  as  well  as  in  the  highest  offices. 
Among  the  monuments  which  shall  perpetuate  his  fame,  not 
the  least  honorable  will  be  that  which  shall  commemorate  his 
life  at  Washington  College  ;  and  among  the  materials  out  of 
which  the  historian  shall  construct  his  future  biography,  not 
the  least  interesting,  we  are  sure,  will  be  the  simple  record  of 
these  last  years  of  silent  but  sublime  labor — of  peaceful  yet 
noble  and  far-reaching  aspiration — in  behalf  of  his  beloved 
and  suffering  people  of  the  South." 

I  will  add  to  these  sketches  of  those  who  helped  him  in 
his  work,  that,  as  I  was  permitted  to  see,  during  five  years, 
the  daily  effects  of  his  power  in  the  college — the  skill  with 
which  he  managed  its  affairs,  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which 
he  inspired  all  who  came  in  contact  with  him,  until  he  had 
one  of  the  hardest-working  Faculties,  and  one  of  the  most 
orderly,  studious  bodies  of  young  men  in  the  country— I  was 
impressed  with  the  conviction  that  he  was  not  only  the  best 
soldier,  but  also  the  lest  college  president,  whom  this  country 
has  ever  produced. 

The  following  incidents  may  be  given  as  illustrating  an 
important  fact  stated  above  by  Dr.  Kirkpatrick.  Happening 
in  his  office  one  day,  I  heard  a  visitor  inquire  how  a  certain 
student  was  getting  on,  when  President  Lee  promptly  replied : 
"He  is  a  very  quiet,  orderly  young  man,  but  seems  very 
careful  not  to  injure  the  health  of  his  father's  son.  He  got 
last  month  only  forty  on  his  Greek,  thirty-five  on  his  Mathe 
matics,  forty-seven  on  his  Latin,  and  fifty  on  his  English, 
which  is  a  very  low  stand,  as  one  hundred  is  our  maximum, 
^"ow,  I  do  not  want  our  young  men  to  really  injure  their 
health ;  but  I  wish  them  to  come  as  near  it  as  possible." 

Yery  much  surprised  at  his  being  able,  without  reference 

*-o  memoranda,  to  thus  give  the  class-standing  of  one  out  of 

four  hundred  students,  I  related  the  incident  to  one  of  the 

professors,  and  asked  if  this  was  not  an  isolated  case.     He 

9 


130  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

replied  that  the  general  could  not,  of  course,  always  recol 
lect  the  exact  "class-mark"  of  every  student,  but  that  he 
never  failed  to  know  the  general  standing  of  a  student,  and 
would  frequently  say,  when  a  name  was  called  at  the  Faculty 
meeting,  "  He  does  his  Mathematics  pretty  well,  but  is  neg 
lecting  his  Latin  and  Greek ;  "  or,  "  lie  is  making  good  prog 
ress  in  the  languages,  but  is  deficient  in  his  Mathematics  and 
the  sciences."  Upon  one  occasion,  when  a  certain  name  was 
called,  General  Lee  remarked,  "  I  am  sorry  to  see  that  he  has 
fallen  back  so  tar  in  his  Mathematics."  "  You  are  mistaken, 
general,"  said  the  professor ;  "  he  is  one  of  the  very  best  men 
in  my  class."  "  He  only  got  fifty-four  last  month,"  was  the 
reply,  and  upon  looking  at  the  consolidated  report  it  was 
found  that  there  had  been  a  mistake  in  copying,  and  that 
General  Lee  was  correct  according  to  the  record. 

As  a  fitting  conclusion  to  this  chapter,  the  following 
extract  from  an  eloquent  sermon,  preached  in  the  Citadel 
Square  Baptist  Church,  Charleston,  S.  C.,  by  Eev.  Dr.  E.  T. 
Winkler,  may  be  subjoined :  .  .  . 

"  When  I  seek  to  penetrate  into  the  mind  of  our  great 
leader,  to  understand  how  he,  who  failed  to  save  the  country 
by  the  sword,  still  hoped  to  save  its  laws,  its  institutions,  its 
customs,  its  sciences,  its  letters,  its  magistracies,  its  altars — 
all  that  has  been  overwhelmed  by  a  fierce  and  tumultuous 
democracy — I  admire  the  simple  and  noble  expedient  to 
which  he  resorted.  General  Lee  established  new  claims  to 
the  reverence  of  his  countrymen  when  he  exchanged  the 
camp  for  the  college,  and  the  sword  for  the  pen. 

"Men  have  praised  his  modest  retirement  to  scholastic 
retreats  when  the  war  was  over,  his  silence  amid  political 
clamors,  his  labors  in  failing  health,  his  devotion  to  the  in 
terests  of  peace,  and  virtue,  and  religion.  How  few  realize 
that,  in  the  quiet  hall  of  the  lecturer  and  professor,  he  re 
newed  the  war,  transferring  it  to  the  sphere  of  mind !  A 
year  before  his  death,  Washington  liberally  endowed  the 
college  that  bears  his  name  in  Lexington,  a  town  situated  ou 


THE   COLLEGE  PRESIDENT.  131 

the  high  western  bank  of  North  River,  a  little  over  a  hun 
dred  miles  from  Richmond.  The  Virginia  Military  Institute 
is  there,  where  Stonewall  Jackson  taught,  and  there  is  that 
lamented  warrior's  grave.  There  his  commander  now  re 
poses. 

"  '  They  were  swifter  than  eagles,  they  were  stronger  than 
lions.  Lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives,  in  their  deaths 
they  are  not  divided.'  Lexington  is  the  parable  of  the  great 
Virginia  soldiers.  In  that  quiet  scholastic  retreat,  in  that 
city  set  upon  a  hill  and  crowned  with  martial  trophies,  they, 
being  dead,  yet  speak.  Richmond  desires  his  body.  It  is 
natural  that  the  metropolis  he  defended  so  bravely,  and  so 
long,  should  yearn  for  that  mighty  presence.  But  the  re 
moval  of  his  remains  from  Lexington  would  obscure  the  final 
lesson  of  his  career.  At  Lexington  the  Southern  leader  in 
trenched  himself  upon  the  battle-field  of  intelligence,  and 
gathered  around  him  the  ardent  youth  of  a  new  generation, 
and  the  spirits  of  the  illustrious  dead,  for  the  redemption  of 
his  conquered  country.  Lexington  is  the  capital  upon  the 
column,  otherwise  incomplete,  of  an  harmonious  and  beauti 
ful  patriotism. 

"  The  earthworks  he  erected  are  fast  disappearing.  The 
fields  he  glorified  by  his  valor  have  wept  away  the  stains  of 
heroic  blood,  and  are  now  robed  as  with  a  golden  vesture  in 
the  yellow  autumnal  grain.  The  cause  for  which  he  con 
tended  is  lost.  Yet  the  great  character  is  immortal,  and  the 
great  Issson  remains.  O  ye,  in  whose  service  that  perfect 
mechanism  was  worn  out,  for  whom  he  endured  sleepless 
nights,  watchful  days ;  for  whom  he  planned  and  marched  ; 
for  whom  he  encountered  exposures,  and  perils,  and  privation, 
and  combats,  until  defense  after  defense  of  Nature  was  car 
ried,  and  the  citadel  of  life  was  assailed,  and  the  spotless  sword 
was  surrendered  to  the  grim  conqueror,  revere  that  last  leg 
acy,  so  simple,  as  coming  from  the  war-worn  soldier :  Take 
care  of  your  institutions  of  learning.  Esteem  education, 
mental,  moral,  and  religious,  as  the  only  bulwark  of  the 


132  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

republic.  Regard  service  and  sacrifice,  not  as  the  means  of 
success,  but  as  the  true  glory  of  life.  And  think  of  man 
liness  as  attaining  its  noblest  elevation  when  it  bows  before 
the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  As  David  composed  '  The  Song  of  the  Bow,'  to  celebrate 
the  glory  of  that  warrior  king  who  had  checked  the  invaders 
of  Palestine,  and  at  last  fell  upon  the  memorable  mountains 
of  Gilboa,  so  will  the  people  of  this  land,  for  countless  gener 
ations,  celebrate  the  memory  of  the  consummate  soldier  who 
resisted  the  overwhelming  flood  of  our  enemies,  and  guarded 
for  years  the  vast  bulwarks  of  our  country,  until,  battle-spent, 
he  died — a  nobler  chief  than  Saul — a  hero  adorned  with  reli 
gion,  and  vindicating  his  country  less  by  his  prowess  than  by 
his  pure  virtues.  Favored  land,  which  has  produced  so  rare 
a  spirit,  which  encircles  by  its  boundaries  the  fields  of  his 
shining  valor,  which  has  so  long  beheld  a  monument  to  the 
glory  of  religion  in  the  person  of  her  most  honored  son! 
Favored  land,  where  the  echoes  of  his  prayers  still  linger, 
after  the  trumpets  of  his  charging  squadrons  have  died  away ! 
Favored  land,  where  the  laurels,  and  the  standards,  and  the 
spoils  of  war  lie  low  before  the  Mercy-Seat !  Favored  land, 
where  the  spirit  of  her  greatest  son  is  expressed  in  tlie  in 
spired  ascription  of  old :  <  JSTot  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us, 
but  unto  Thy  name  give  glory  1 ' " 


CHAPTEE  III. 

DUTY   THE    KEY-NOTE    OF    HIS    LIFE. 

IF  asked  to  name  in  a  single  word  the  controlling  prin 
ciple  of  General  Lee's  life,  we  should  unhesitatingly  answer, 
DUTY.  Whether  as  a  youth  meeting  his  obligations  to  his  aged 
mother,  and  passing  through  the  Military  Academy  without 
a  single  demerit ;  or  serving  in  the  United  States  Army ;  or 
directing  the  forces  of  his  native  South  ;  or  quietly  working 
in  the  college  at  Lexington  for  the  good  of  the  young  men 
of  the  country — duty  was  the  star  which  guided  him  through 
out  his  eventful  career.  The  letter  which  has  been  so  wide 
ly  published,  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  General 
Lee  at  Arlington  to  his  son  Custis  at  "West  Point,  is  unques 
tionably  spurious.  But  the  expression,  "  Duty  is  the  sub- 
limest  word  in  the  English  language,"  did  occur  in  a  letter 
to  his  son,  and  it  is  very  certain  that  he  regulated  his  own  life 
by  this  noble  sentiment. 

General  Magruder  related  a  characteristic  incident,  which 
was  thus  given  by  the  Norfolk  Virginian : 

"  After  the  fall  of  Mexico,  when  the  American  army  was 
enjoying  the  ease  and  relaxation  which  it  had  bought  by 
toil  and  blood,  a  brilliant  assembly  of  officers  sat  over  their 
wine,  discussing  the  operations  of  the  siege,  and  indulging 
hopes  of  a  speedy  return  to  the  United  States. 

"  One  among  then;  rose  to  propose  the  health  of  the  cap 
tain  of  engineers,  who  had  found  a  way  for  the  army  within 


134  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

the  city  ;  and  then  it  was  remarked  that  Captain  Lee  was  ab 
sent.  Magruder  was  dispatched  to  bring  him  to  the  hall, 
and,  departing  on  his  mission,  at  last  found  the  object  of  his 
search  in  a  remote  room  of  the  palace,  busy  on  a  map. 

"  Magruder  accosted  his  friend,  and  reproached  him  for 
his  absence. 

"  The  earnest  worker  looked  up  from  his  labors  with  a 
calm,  mild  gaze,  which  we  all  remember,  and,  pointing  to  his 
instruments,  shook  his  head. 

" '  But/  said  Magruder,  in  his  impetuous  way,  '  this  is 
mere  drudgery  !  Make  somebody  else  do  it,  and  come  with 


"'No,'  was  the  reply— < no,  I  am  but  doing  my  duty.'  " 
We  give,  in  his  own  words,  an  incident  related  by  ex- 
President  Jefferson  Davis,  in  his  address  at  the  Lee  Memo 
rial  Meeting  held  in  Eichmond,  November  3,  1870 : 

"  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  throw  a  cloud  upon  his 
character  because  he  left  the  army  of  the  United  States  to 
join  in  the  struggle  for  the  liberty  of  his  State.  Without 
entering  into  politics,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  say  one  word 
in  reference  to  this  charge.  Yirginian  born,  descended  from 
a  family  illustrious  in  the  colonial  history  of  Virginia,  more 
illustrious  still  in  her  struggle  for  Independence,  and  most 
illustrious  in  her  recent  effort  to  maintain  the  great  prin 
ciples  declared  in  1776,  given  by  Virginia  to  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  he  represented  her  in  the  Military  Acad 
emy  at  West  Point.  He  was  not  educated  by  the  Federal 
Government,  but  by  Virginia ;  for  she  paid  her  full  share 
for  the  support  of  that  institution,  and  was  entitled  to  de 
mand  in  return  the  services  of  her  sons.  Entering  the  armv 
of  the  United  States,  he  represented  Virginia  there  also,  and 
nobly  performed  his  duty  for  the  Union  of  which  Virginia 
was  a  member,  whether  we  look  to  his  peaceful  services  as 
an  engineer,  or  to  his  more  notable  deeds  upon  foreign  fields 
of  battle.  He  came  from  Mexico  crowned  with  honors, 
covered  by  brevets,  and  recognized,  young  as  he  was,  as  one 


DUTY   THE   KEY-NOTE   OF   HIS   LIFE.  135 

of  tlie  ablest  of  his  country's  soldiers.  And  to  prove  that  he 
was  estimated  then  as  such,  not  only  by  his  associates,  but  by 
foreigners  also,  I  may  mention  that  when  he  was  a  captain 
of  engineers,  stationed  in  Baltimore,  the  Cuban  Junta  in 
New  York  selected  him  to  be  their  leader  in  the  revolution 
ary  effort  in  that  island.  They  were  anxious  to  secure  his 
services,  and  offered  him  every  temptation  that  ambition 
could  desire,  and  pecuniary  emoluments  far  beyond  any 
which  he  could  hope  otherwise  to  acquire.  He  thought  the 
matter  over,  and,  I  remember,  came  to  Washington  to  con 
sult  me  as  to  what  he  should  do.  After  a  brief  discussion  of 
the  complex  character  of  the  military  problem  which  was 
presented,  he  turned  from  the  consideration  of  that  view  of 
the  question,  by  stating  that  the  point  on  which  he  wished 
particularly  to  consult  me  was  as  to  the  propriety  of  enter 
taining  the  proposition  which  had  been  made  to  him.  He 
had  been  educated  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and 
felt  it  wrong  to  accept  place  in  the  army  of  a  foreign  pow 
er,  while  he  held  his  commission.  Such  was  his  extreme 
delicacy,  such  the  nice  sense  of  honor  of  the  gallant  gentle 
man  we  deplore.  But  when  Virginia — the  State  to  which 
""  He  owed  his  first  and  last  allegiance — withdrew  from  the 
Union,  and  thus  terminated  his  relations  to  it,  the  same  nice 
sense  of  honor  and  duty,  which  had  guided  him  on  a  former 
occasion,  had  a  different  application,  and  led  him  to  share  her 
fortune  for  good  or  for  evil." 

It  cost  General  Lee  a  severe  struggle  to  leave  the  old 
army.  Pie  had  never  been  a  politician,  but  was  ardently  at 
tached  to  the  Union,  and  earnestly  opposed  to  secession  as  a 
remedy  for  the  grievances  of  the  South. 

Besides  his  published  utterances,  a  few  extracts  from  his 
private  letters  to  his  wife  will  abundantly  show  this.  From 
"  Camp  Cooper,  on  the  Clear  Fork  of  the  Brazos,"  under 
date  of  "  August  4, 1856,"  he  writes  as  follows :"...!  hope 
your  father  enjoyed  his  usual  celebration  of  the  4th  of  July. 
My  4th  was  spent  (after  a  march  of  thirty  miles)  on  a 


136  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

branch  of  the  Brazos,  under  my  blanket,  which  was  elevated 
on  four  sticks  driven  in  the  ground  as  a  sun-shade.  The  sun 
was  fiery  hot,  the  atmosphere  like  the  blast  from  a  hot-air 
furnace,  the  water  salt;  still  my  feelings  for  rny  country 
were  as  ardent,  my  faith  in  her  future  as  true,  and  my  hopes 
for  her  advancement  as  unabated,  as  if  called  forth  under 
more  propitious  circumstances."  Under  date  of  "  December, 
1856,"  he  writes  from  Fort  Brown,  Texas  : 

".'..-.  We  get  plenty  of  papers,  but  all  of  old  dates. 
Things  seem  to  be  going  on  as  usual  in  the  States.  Mr.  Bu 
chanan,  it  appears,  is  to  be  our  next  President.  I  hope  he 
will  be  able  to  extinguish  fanaticism  North  and  South,  culti 
vate  love  for  the  country  and  Union,  and  restore  harmony 
between  the  different  sections.  .  .  ." 

He  wrote  as  follows  on  the  eve  of  the  great  catastrophe 
which  was  to  drench  the  land  in  blood : 

"FORT  MASON,  TEXAS,  January  23,  1861. 

"  I  received  Everett's  c  Life  of  Washington  '  which  you  sent 
me,  and  enjoyed  its  perusal.  How  his  spirit  would  be  grieved 
could  he  see  the  wreck  of  his  mighty  labors !  I  will  not,  how 
ever,  permit  myself  to  believe,  until  all  ground  of  hope  is  gone, 
that  the  fruit  of  his  noble  deeds  will  be  destroyed,  and  that 
his  precious  advice  and  virtuous  example  will  so  soon  be  for 
gotten  by  his  countrymen.  As  far  as  I  can  judge  by  the  papers, 
we  are  between  a  state  of  anarchy  and  civil  war.  May  God  avert 
both  of  these  evils  from  us  !  I  fear  that  mankind  will  not  for 
years  be  sufficiently  Christianized  to  bear  the  absence  of  restraint 
and  force.  I  see  that  four  States  have  declared  themselves  out 
of  the  Union ;  four  more  will  apparently  follow  their  example. 
Then,  if  the  border  States  are  brought  into  the  gulf  of  revolution, 
one  half  of  the  country  will  be  arrayed  against  the  other.  I  must 
try  and  be  patient  and  await  the  end,  for  I  can  do  nothing  to 
hasten  or  retard  it.  ...  " 

Under  the  same  date,  he  wrote  thus  to  his  son : 
"  The  South,  in  my  opinion,  has  been  aggrieved  by  the  acts 
of  the  North,  as  you  say.     I  feel  the  aggression,  and  am  willing 


DUTY  TUB   KEY-NOTE   OF  HIS  LIFE.  ]3? 

to  take  every  proper  step  for  redress.  It  is  the  principle  I  con 
tend  for,  not  individual  or  private  benefit.  As  an  American 
citizen,  I  take  great  pride  in  my  country,  her  prosperity  and  in 
stitutions,  and  would  defend  any  State,  if  her  rights  were  in 
vaded.  But  I  can  anticipate  no  greater  calamity  for  the  country") 
than  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  It  would  be  an  accumulation  of7 
all  the  evils  we  complain  of,  and  I  am  willing  to  sacrifice  every 
thing  but  honor  for  its  preservation.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  all 
constitutional  means  will  be  exhausted  before  there  is  a  resort  to 
force.  Secession  is  nothing  but  revolution.  The  framers  of  our 
Constitution  never  exhausted  so  much  labor,  wisdom,  and  for 
bearance  in  its  formation,  and  surrounded  it  with  so  many  guards 
and  securities,  if  it  was  intended  to  be  broken  by  every  mem 
ber  of  the  Confederacy  at  will.  It  was  intended  for  *  perpetual 
union,'  so  expressed  in  the  preamble,  and  for  the  establishment 
of  a  government,  not  a  compact,  which  can  only  be  dissolved 
by  revolution,  or  the  consent  of  all  the  people  in  convention  as 
sembled.  It  is  idle  to  talk  of  secession.  Anarchy  would  have 
been  established,  and  not  a  government,  by  Washington,  Ham 
ilton,  Jefferson.  Madison,  and  the  other  patriots  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  .  .  .  Still  a  Union  that  can  only  be  maintained  by  swords 
and  bayonets,  and  in  which  strife  and  civil  war  are  to  take  the 
place  of  brotherly  love  and  kindness,  has  no  charm  for  me.  I  shall 
mourn  for  my  country  and  for  the  welfare  and  progress  of  man 
kind.  If  the  Union  is  dissolved,  and  the  Government  disrupted, 
I  shall  retrun  to  my  native  State  and  share  the  miseries  of  my 
people,  and  save  in  defense  will  draw  my  sword  on  none." 

Three  weeks  after  this  letter  was  written,  he  received  or 
ders  "  to  report  to  the  commander-iii-chief  at  Washington," 
and  hastened  to  obey  the  summons — reaching  there  on  the  1st 
of  March,  just  three  days  before  the  inauguration  of  President 
Lincoln.  Here  lie  had  the  strongest  pressure  brought  to  bear 
upon  him  to  induce  him  to  side  with  the  North  in  the  impend 
ing  struggle.  General  Scott,  who  had  been  his  warm  personal 
friend,  and  to  whom  he  was  most  sincerely  attached,  used  all 
of  his  powers  of  persuasion  to  induce  him  to  "stand  by  the 


138     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

old  flag."  We  have  the  authority  of  Hon.  Montgomery  Blair 
for  saying  that  the  supreme  command  of  the  United  States 
Army  was  offered  him  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  knew  that  in  the 
Southern  Army  several  other  officers  (by  a  law  already  passed 
by  the  Confederate  Congress)  would  rank  him.  He  appreci 
ated,  as  few  others  did,  the  magnitude  of  the  war  which  was 
about  to  burst  forth,  the  fearful  odds  against  which  the  South 
would  contend,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  issue.  His  beauti 
ful  home  at  Arlington,  around  which  clustered  so  many  hal 
lowed  associations,  must  fall  within  the  Federal  lines,  and  he 
must  lose  his  splendid  estate  if  he  sided  with  the  South. 
But  "  none  of  these  things  moved  him  " — his  only  desire  was 
to  know  that  lie  might  walJc  the  path  of  duty. 

To  Mr.  Lincoln's  messenger  (the  elder  Blair)  he  said: 
"  Mr.  Blair,  I  look  upon  secession  as  anarchy.  If  I  owned 
the  four  millions  of  slaves  in  the  South,  I  would  sacrifice  them 
all  to  the  Union — but  how  can  I  draw  my  sword  upon  Vir 
ginia,  my  native  State  ? "  To  all  of  General  Scott's  entreaties 
he  made  similar  replies ;  and  when  on  the  17th  day  of  April, 
1861,  the  Virginia  Convention  (which  had  stood  firm  in  its 
adherence  to  the  Union,  and  exhausted  every  means  of  pacifi 
cation),  in  reply  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  call  for  troops  to  coerce  the 
seceded  States,  passed  its  ordinance  of  secession  and  called 
upon  the  sons  of  Virginia  to  rally  to  her  standard,  the  course 
of  R.  E.  Lee  was  decided. 

He  turned  his  back  upon  wealth,  rank,  and  all  that  a 
mighty  nation  could  offer  him,  severed  the  strong  ties  which 
bound  him  to  the  "  old  service  "  and  his  brother  officers,  and 
offered  his  stainless  sword  to  his  mother-State. 

The  following  letter  to  General  Scott  explains  the  feel 
ings  with  which  he  left  the  United  States  Army  : 

"  ARLINGTON,  VA.,  April  20,  1861. 

"  GENERAL  :  Since  my  interview  with  you  on  the  18th  in 
stant,  I  have  felt  that  I  ought  not  longer  to  retain  my  commis 
sion  in  the  army.  I  therefore  tender  my  resignation,  which  1 
request  you  will  recommend  for  acceptance.  It  would  have 


DUTY  THE  KEY-NOTE   OF   HIS  LIFE.  139 

been  presented  at  once,  but  for  the  struggle  it  has  cost  me 
to  separate  myself  from  a  service  to  which  I  have  devoted  all 
the  best  years  of  my  life,  and  all  the  ability  I  possessed. 

"  During  the  whole  of  that  time — more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century — I  have  experienced  nothing  but  kindness  from  my  su 
periors,  and  the  most  cordial  friendship  from  my  comrades.  To 
no  one,  general,  have  I  been  as  much  indebted  as  to  yourself 
for  uniform  kindness  and  consideration,  and  it  has  always  been 
my  ardent  desire  to  meet  your  approbation.  I  shall  carry  to  the 
grave  the  most  grateful  recollections  of  your  kind  consideration, 
and  your  name  and  fame  will  always  be  dear  to  me. 

"  Save  in  defense  of  my  native  State,  I  never  desire  again 
to  draw  my  sword.  Be  pleased  to  accept  my  most  earnest 
wishes  for  the  continuance  of  your  happiness  and  prosperity,  and 
believe  me  most  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

To  a  sister  in  Baltimore  lie  wrote  as  follows,  under  the 
same  date  as  the  above  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  I  am  grieved  at  my  inability  to  see  you. 
...  I  have  been  waiting  for  a  more  '  convenient  season,'  which 
has  brought  to  many  before  me  deep  and  lasting  regret.  We 
are  now  in  a  state  of  war  which  will  yield  to  nothing.  The 
whole  South  is  in  a  state  of  revolution,  into  which  Virginia, 
after  a  long  struggle,  has  been  drawn  ;  and  though  I  recognize 
no  necessity  for  this  state  of  things,  and  would  have  forborne 
and  pleaded  to  the  end  for  redress  of  grievances,  real  or  sup 
posed,  yet  in  my  own  person  I  had  to  meet  the  question  whether 
I  should  take  part  against  my  native  State.  With  all  my  devo 
tion  to  the  Union,  and  the  feeling  of  loyalty  and  duty  of  an 
American  citizen,  I  have  not  been  able  to  make  up  my  mind  to 
raise  my  hand  against  my  relatives,  my  children,  my  home.  I 
have,  therefore,  resigned  my  commission  in  the  army,  and  save 
in  defense  of  my  native  State — with  the  sincere  hope  that  my 
poor  services  may  never  be  needed— I  hope  I  may  never  be 
called  upon  to  draw  my  sword. 

"I  know  you  will  blame  me  ;  but  you  must  think  as  kindly  of 
me  as  you  can,  and  believe  that  I'have  endeavored  to  do  what  I 


140  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

thought  right.  To  show  you  the  feeling  and  struggle  it  has 
cost  me,  I  send  a  copy  of  my  letter  of  resignation.  I  have  no 
time  for  more.  .  .  . 

"  May  God  guard  and  protect  you  and  yours,  and  shower 
upon  you  everlasting  blessings,  is  the  prayer  of 

"  Your  devoted  brother, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

Immediately  upon  his  arrival  in  Richmond,  the  Governor 
nominated  him  to  the  chief  command  of  the  Yirginia  forces, 
and  the  convention  unanimously  confirmed  the  nomination. 
On  the  23d  of  April  he  was  enthusiastically  received  by  the 
convention,  and  their  president  (the  venerable  John  Janney) 
made  him  an  eloquent  address  of  welcome,  concluding  as 
follows : 

"  Sir,  we  have  by  this  unanimous  vote  expressed  our  con 
victions  that  you  are  at  this  day,  among  the  living  citizens  of 
Virginia,  t  first  in  war.'  We  pray  to  God  most  fervently 
that  you  may  so  conduct  the  operations  committed  to  your 
charge  that  it  may  soon  be  said  of  you  that  you  are  <  first  in 
peace ; '  and  when  that  time  comes,  you  will  have  earned  the 
still  prouder  distinction  of  being  'first  in  the  hearts  of  your 
countrymen.5 

"  Yesterday  your  mother,  Yirginia,  placed  her  sword  in 
your  hand,  upon  the  implied  condition,  that  we  know  you 
will  keep  to  the  letter  and  in  spirit,  that  you  will  draw  it 
only  in  defense,  and  that  you  will  fall  with  it  in  your  hand 
rather  than  that  the  object  for  which  it  was  placed  there  shall 
fail." 

General  Lee  replied  with  characteristic  modesty  and  said  : 
"  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen  of  the  Convention — Pro 
foundly  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  for 
which  I  must  say  I  was  not  prepared,  I  accept  the  position 
assigned  me  by  your  partiality.  I  would  have  much  pre 
ferred  had  your  choice  fallen  upon  an  abler  man.  Trusting 
in  Almighty  God,  an  approving  conscience,  and  the  aid  of  my 
fellow-citizens,  I  devote  myself  to  the  service  of  my  native 


DUTY  THE  KEY-NOTE  OF  HIS  LIFE.  141 

State,  in  whose  behalf  alone  will  I  ever  again  draw  my 
sword." 

Men  may  differ  as  to  the  rightf ulness  of  the  course  on 
which  General  Lee  decided;  but  no  one  who  knew  him 
could  ever  doubt  that  he  acted  from  the  highest  conviction 
that  he  was  but  doing  his  duty. 

The  following  letter  will  be  a  valuable  contribution  to 
history,  not  only  as  giving  General  Lee's  own  version  of  the 
important  events  mentioned,  but  also  as  refuting  certain  mis 
representations  of  him  which  have  been  widely  circulated : 

"LEXINGTON,  YA.,  February  25,  1868. 
"Son.  REVEKDY  JOHNSON,  U.  8.  Senate,  Washington,  D.  G. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIK  :  My  attention  has  been  called  to  the  offi 
cial  report  of  the  debate  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  of 
the  19th  instant,  in  which  you  did  me  the  kindness  to  doubt  the 
correctness  of  the  statement  made  by  the  Hon.  Simon  Cameron 
in  regard  to  myself.  I  desire  that  you  may  feel  certain  of  my 
conduct  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  so  far  as  my  individual 
statement  can  make  you. 

"  I  never  intimated  to  any  one  that  I  desired  the  command 
of  the  United  States  Army,  nor  did  I  ever  have  a  conversation 
but  with  one  gentleman,  Mr.  Francis  Preston  Blair,  on  the  sub 
ject,  which  was  at  his  invitation,  and,  as  I  understood,  at  the 
instance  of  President  Lincoln. 

"  After  listening  to  his  remarks,  I  declined  the  offer  he 
made  me,  to  take  command  of  the  army  that  was  to  be  brought 
into  the  field,  stating,  as  candidly  and  as  courteously  as  I  could, 
that,  though  opposed  to  secession  and  deprecating  war,  I  could 
take  no  part  in  an  invasion  of  the  Southern  States. 

"  I  went  directly  from  the  interview  with  Mr.  Blair  to  the 
office  of  General  Scott ;  told  him  of  the  proposition  that  had 
been  made  to  me,  and  my  decision. 

"  Upon  reflection  after  returning  to  my  home,  I  concluded 
that  I  ought  no  longer  to  retain  any  commission  I  held  in  the 
United  States  Army,  and,  on  the  second  morning  thereafter,  I 
forwarded  my  resignation  to  General  Scott. 

"  At  the  time,  I  hoped  that  peace  would  have  been  pre 


142  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

served;  that  some  way  would  have  been  found  to  save  the 
country  from  the  calamities  of  war  ;  and  I  then  had  no  other  in 
tention  than  to  pass  the  remainder  of  my  life  as  a  private 
citizen. 

"  Two  days  afterward,  upon  the  invitation  of  the  Governor 
of  Virginia,  I  repaired  to  Richmond,  found  that  the  convention 
then  in  session  had  passed  the  ordinance  withdrawing  the  State 
from  the  Union,  and  accepted  the  commission  of  commander  of 
its  forces  which  was  tendered  me. 

"  These  are  the  simple  facts  of  the  case,  and  they  show  that 
Mr.  Cameron  has  been  misinformed. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

«R.  E.  LEE." 

But  it  is  proper  to  add  that,  when  his  course  was  once 
decided  upon,  he  never  faltered,  and  never  for  a  moment 
regretted  his  decision,  or  doubted  that  he  was  treading  the 
path  of  duty. 

In  June,  1868,  when  speaking  to  his  trusted  lieutenant— 
the  gallant  and  accomplished  General  Wade  Hampton— of  the 
war  and  its  results,  and  of  the  part  he  bore  in  it,  he  said,  with 
emphasis :  "  I  did  only  what  my  duty  demanded  ;  I  could  have 
taken  no  other  course  without  dishonor.  And  if  all  were  to 
le  done  over  again,  I  should  act  in  precisely  the  same  man 
ner." 

In  reference  to  General  Lee's  views  and  feelings  at  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war,  Bishop  Joseph  P.  B.  Wilmer,  of 
Louisiana,  in  a  memorial  address,  testifies  as  follows  : 

"  In  what  temper  of  mind  he  entered  this  contest,  I  can 
speak  with  some  confidence,  from  personal  interviews  with 
him  soon  after  the  commencement  of  hostilities.  '  Is  it 
your  expectation,'  I  asked,  *  that  the  issue  of  this  war  will  be 
to  perpetuate  the  institution  of  slavery  2 ' 

"  <  The  future  is  in  the  hands  of  Providence,'  he  replied, 
'  but,  if  the  slaves  of  the  South  were  mine,  I  would  surren 
der  them  all  without  a  struggle,  to  avert  this  war.' 

"  I  asked  him,  next,  upon  what  his  calculations  were  based 


DUTY  THE  KEY-NOTE   OF  HIS  LITE.  143 

in  so  unequal  a  contest,  and  how  he  expected  to  win  success ; 
was  he  looking  to  divided  counsels  in  the  North,  or  to  for 
eign  interposition  ?  His  answer  showed  how  little  he  was 
affected  by  the  hopes  and  fears  which  agitated  ordinary 
minds.  '  My  reliance  is  in  the  help  of  God.' 

"  '  Are  you  sanguine  of  the  result  $ '  I  ventured  to  in 
quire.  '  At  present  I  am  not  concerned  with  results.  God's 
will  ought  to  be  Dur  aim,  and  I  am  quite  contented  that  his 
designs  should  be  accomplished  and  not  mine.' " 

And  so,  all  through  that  great  contest  (in  the  hour  of  vic 
tory  and  the  hour  of  defeat  alike),  he  seemed  animated  only 
by  a  desire  to  do  his  duty,  whatever  others  might  think. 

This  is  illustrated  by  an  incident  of  the  surrender,  re 
lated  by  Colonel  C.  S.  Yenable,  a  gallant  and  accomplished 
member  of  his  personal  staff,  in  his  address  at  the  Lee  Me 
morial  Meeting  in  Richmond,  November  3,  1870  : 

"At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  that  fatal  day, 
General  Lee  rode  forward,  still  hoping  that  we  might  break 
through  the  countless  hordes  of  the  enemy  which  hemmed  us 
in.  Halting  a  short  distance  in  rear  of  our  vanguard,  he 
sent  me  on  to  General  Gordon  to  ask  him  if  he  could  break 
through  the  enemy.  I  found  General  Gordon  and  General 
Fitz  Lee  on  their  front  line  in  the  dim  light  of  the  morn 
ing,  arranging  an  attack.  Gordon's  reply  to  the  message  (I 
give  the  expressive  phrase  of  the  gallant  Georgian)  was  this  : 
'  Tell  General  Lee  I  have  fought  my  corps  to  a  frazzle,  and  I 
fear  I  can  do  nothing  unless  I  am  heavily  supported  by  Long- 
street's  corps.'  When  I  bore  this  message  back  to  General 
Lee,  he  said  :  c  Then  there  is  nothing  left  me  but  to  go  and 
see  General  Grant,1  and  I  would  rather  die  a  thousand 
deaths.'  Convulsed  with  passionate  grief,  many  were  the 
wild  words  which  we  spoke,  as  we  stood  around  him.  Said 
one,  <  O  general,  what  will  history  say  of  the  surrender  of 

1  Field's  and  Mahone's  Divisions  of  Longstreet's  corps,  stanch  in  the 
niidst  of  all  our  disasters,  were  holding  Meade  back  in  our  rear,  and  could  not 
be  spared  for  the  attack. 


144  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

the  army  in  the  field  ? '  He  replied  :  <  Yes,  I  know  they 
will  say  hard  things  of  us ;  they  will  not  understand  how 
we  were  overwhelmed  by  numbers ;  but  that  is  not  the 
question,  colonel ;  the  question  is,  is  it  right  to  surrender 
this  army  ?  If  it  is  right,  then  /  will  take  all  the  responsi 
bility.' 

"  Fellow-soldiers,  though  he  alone  was  calm,  in  that  hour 
of  humiliation  the  soul  of  our  great  captain  underwent  the 
throes  of  death  for  his  grand  old  army  surrendered,  and  for 
his  people  so  soon  to  lie  at  the  mercy  of  the  foe ;  and  the 
sorrows  of  this  first  death  at  Appomattox  Court-House,  with 
the  afflictions  which  fell  upon  the  devoted  South,  weighed 
upon  his  mighty  heart  to  its  breaking,  when  the  welcome 
messenger  came  from  God  to  translate  him  to  his  home  in 
heaven." 

One  day  in  1866  the  writer  was  conversing  with  General 
Lee  in  reference  to  certain  results  of  the  war,  when  he  said, 
very  emphatically :  "  Yes  !  all  that  is  very  sad,  and  might  be 
a  cause  of  self-reproach,  ~but  that  we  are  conscious  that  we 
have  humbly  tried  to  do  our  duty.  We  may,  therefore,  with 
calm  satisfaction,  trust  in  God,  and  leave  results  to  him." 

General  Gordon  testifies  that  in  the  deep  agony  of  spirit 
with  which  Lee  witnessed  the  grief  of  his  soldiers  at  the  sur 
render,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  could  wish  that  I  w^ere  numbered 
among  the  slain  of  the  last  battle,"  but  that  he  at  once  re 
called  the  wish,  and  said,  "  ISTo !  we  must  live  for  our  afflicted 
country." 

And  one  of  his  officers  relates  that  during  those  hours  of 
terrible  suspense,  when  he  was  considering  the  question  of 
surrender,  he  exclaimed  from  the  depths  of  a  full  heart: 
"  How  easily  I  could  get  rid  of  this  and  be  at  rest !  I  have 
only  to  ride  along  the  lines,  and  all  will  be  over.  But,"  he 
quickly  added,  "  it  is  our  duty  to  live — for  what  will  become 
of  the  women  and  children  of  the  South  if  we  are  not  here 
to  support  and  protect  them  ?  " 

So,  too,  after  the  surrender,  he  determined  that  it  was 


DUTY   THE  KEY-NOTE   OF  HIS  LIFE.  145 

fiis  duty  to  remain  in  his  native  State,  share  her  fortunes, 
and  abide  all  the  perils  of  personal  danger  which  then  seemed 
to  surround  him. 

He  said  to  an  intimate  friend  who  visited  him  in  Rich 
mond  soon  after  the  surrender :  "  What  course  I  shall  pur 
sue  I  have  not  decided  upon,  and  each  man  must  be  the  judge 
of  his  own  action.  We  must  all,  however,  resolve  on  one 
thing — not  to  abandon  our  country.  Now,  more  than  at  any 
other  time,  Virginia  and  every  State  in  the  South  needs  us. 
We  must  try  and,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  go  to  work 
to  build  up  their  prosperity.  The  young  men  especially 
must  stay  at  home,  bearing  themselves  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  gain  the  esteem  of  every  one  at  the  same  time  that  they 
maintain  their  own  self-respect." 

It  was  my  sad  privilege,  not  long  after  General  Lee's 
death,  to  look  over  some  papers  found  in  his  army-satchel, 
together  with  his  parole,  and  other  things  w^hich  had  not 
been  disturbed  since  his  return  from  Appomattox  Court- 
House.  On  loose  sheets  he  had  written — evidently  to  amuse 
a  leisure  hour  in  camp — a  great  many  maxims,  proverbs, 
quotations  from  the  Psalms,  selections  from  standard  authors, 
and  reflections  of  his  own.  On  one  sheet  was  found,  in  his 
well-known  handwriting,  the  following : 

"The  warmest  instincts  of  every  man's  soul  declare  the 
glory  of  the  soldier's  death.  It  is  more  appropriate  to  the 
Christian  than  to  the  Greek  to  sing : 

'  Glorious  his  fate,  and  envied  is  his  lot, 

Who  for  his  country  fights  and  for  it  diesi' 

"  There  is  a  true  glory  and  a  true  honor :  the  glory  of 
duty  done — the  honor  of  the  integrity  of  principle." 

On  another  sheet  he  had  written :  "  Private  and  public 
life  are  subject  to  the  same  rules ;  and  truth  and  manliness 
are  two  qualities  that  will  carry  you  through  this  world  much 
better  than  policy,  or  tact,  or  expediency r,  or  any  other  word 
that  was  ever  devised  to  conceal  or  mystify  a  deviation  from 

a  straight  line." 
10 


UG  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

In  finally  deciding  upon  his  course  after  the  surrender — 
in  refusing  the  many  tempting  offers  that  were  made  him, 
turning  aside  from  wealth  and  honors  still  within  his  grasp, 
and  going  of  his  own  free  choice  to  the  quiet  town  of  Lexing 
ton  to  devote  his  remaining  years  to  the  interests  of  Washing, 
ton  College — he  but  acted  on  the  guiding  principle  of  his  life. 

To  his  life-long  friend,  General  W.  N.  Pendleton,  he 
wrote,  in  reference  to  accepting  the  presidency  of  Washington 
College : 

"  If  I  thought  I  could  be  of  any  benefit  to  our  noble  youth, 
I  should  not  hesitate  to  give  my  services." 

Hon.  H.  W.  Ililliard,  ex-member  of  the  Federal  Congress, 
made  a  speech  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  at  the  meeting  there  held  to 
do  honor  to  the  memory  of  General  Lee,  in  which  he  said : 

"  An  offer,  originating  in  Georgia,  and  I  believe  in  this 
very  city,  was  made  to  him  to  place  an  immense  sum  of  money 
at  his  disposal  if  he  would  consent  to  reside  in  the  city  of  New 
York  and  represent  Southern  commerce.  Millions  would  have 
flowed  to  him.  But  he  declined.  He  said :  '  !N"o ;  I  am 
grateful,  but  I  have  a  self-imposed  task,  which  I  must  accom 
plish.  I  have  led  the  young  men  of  the  South  in  battle;  I 
have  seen  many  of  them  fall  under  my  standard.  I  shall  de 
vote  my  life  now  to  training  young  men  to  do  their  duty  in 
if  e.' " 


CHAPTER  IY. 

HIS   MODEST    HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AIsD    GENTLENESS. 

IF  ever  there  lived  a  man  who  might  of  right  be  proud,  it 
was  General  Lee !  Descended  from  a  long  line  of  illustrious 
ancestors — allied  by  marriage  to  the  family  of  George  Wash 
ington — of  manly  beauty,  rarely  equaled — with  honors  con 
stantly  clustering  around  his  brow,  until  his  fame  was  coex 
tensive  with  two  continents — it  would  surely  have  been  ex 
cusable  had  he  exhibited,  if  not  a  haughty  spirit,  at  least  a 
consciousness  of  his  superiority  and  his  fame. 

But  modest  humility,  simplicity,  and  gentleness,  were 
most  conspicuous  in  his  daily  life. 

Scrupulously  neat  in  his  dress,  he  was  always  simply  at 
tired,  and  carefully  avoided  the  gold-lace  and  feathers  in  which 
others  delighted.  During  the  war,  he  usually  wore  a  suit  of 
gray,  without  ornament,  and  with  no  insignia  of  rank  save 
three  stars  on  his  collar,  which  every  Confederate  colonel  was 
entitled  to  wear.  But  he  always  kept  a  handsomer  (though 
equally  simple)  uniform,  which  he  wore  upon  occasions  of 
ceremony.  General  TV.  N".  Pendleton — chief  of  artillery  of 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia — relates  that  on  the  morning 
of  the  surrender  he  found  him  before  daybreak  dressed  in  his 
neatest  style,  and  that  to  his  inquiries  he  pleasantly  replied  : 
"  If  I  am  to  be  General  Grant's  prisoner  to-day,  I  intend  to 
make  my  best  appearance." 

There  was  a  smaller  number  of  attendants  about  General 


148  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Lee's  headquarters,  and  less  display  of  "  the  pomp  and  cir 
cumstance  of  war,"  than  about  the  quarters  of  many  officers 
of  inferior  rank.  He  was  frequently  seen  riding  alone  among 
the  troops,  or  attended  by  a  single  courier ;  more  than  half 
the  time  with  hat  lifted  in  response  to  loving  salutations  or 
enthusiastic  cheers  from  his  ragged  soldiers. 

An  intelligent  gentleman  at  whose  house  Major-General 
John  Pope  once  had  his  headquarters — on  that  famous  cani- 
pain  in  1862,  during  which  Stonewall  Jackson  rudely  broke 
in  upon  his  dream  of  victory  and  compelled  him,  despite  his 
general  orders,  to  look  to  his  "  lines  of  retreat " — gave  the 
writer  a  vivid  contrast  between  the  regal  splendor  in  which 
this  officer  moved,  and  the  modest  simplicity  observed  at  the 
headquarters  of  the  great  Confederate  leader. 

One  of  his  brigadiers  asked  him  one  day,  "Why  is  it, 
general,  that  you  do  not  wear  the  full  insignia  of  your  rank, 
but  content  yourself  with  the  stars  of  a  colonel  ?  "  <  Oh/  re 
plied  the  modest  chieftain,  <  I  do  not  care  for  display.  And 
the  truth  is,  that  the  rank  of  colonel  is  about  as  high  as  I 
ought  ever  to  have  gotten ;  or,  perhaps,  I  might  manage  a 
good  cavalry  brigade  if  I  had  the  right  kind  of  subordi 
nates.' 

No  name  (certainly  no  name  of  like  rank)  appears  so  con 
spicuously  in  General  Scott's  reports  of  his  Mexican  campaign 
as  that  of  the  young  engineer-officer,  R.  E.  Lee.  At  Cerro 
Gordo,  General  Scott  wrote  :  <  I  am  compelled  to  make  spe 
cial  mention  of  Captain  R.  E.  Lee,  engineer.  This  officer 
greatly  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of  Yera  Cruz ;  was 
again  indefatigable  during  these  operations  in  reconnoissances, 
as  daring  as  laborious,  and  of  the  utmost  value.  Nor  was  he 
less  conspicuous  in  planting  batteries,  and  in  conducting  col 
umns  to  their  stations  under  the  heavy  fire  of  the  enemy/ 
General  Scott  says  of  him  at  Chapultepec,  that  he  was  '  as 
distinguished  for  felicitous  execution  as  for  science  and  dar 
ing.'  Again :  '  Captain  Lee,  so  constantly  distinguished,  also 
bore  important  orders  from  me,  until  he  fainted  from  a 


HIS   MODEST   HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND   GENTLENESS.  149 

wound  and  the  loss  of  two  nights'  sleep  at  the  batteries/ 
This  distinguished  service  made  him  a  name  among  his  com 
rades,  and  famous  throughout  the  country. 

In  1869  1  heard  General  Lee,  in  conversing  with  a  vis 
iting  minister,  who  had  the  day  before  fainted  in  the  pulpit, 
allude  to  the  incident  which  General  Scott  speaks  of  in  such 
high  praise.  But  he  spoke  of  '  going  up  to  the  gates  of  the 
city,'  and  having  a  £  tedious  season,'  and  i  a  slight  wound ' 
which  brought  on  a  '  f ainting-spell,'  in  such  quiet,  modest 
phrase  that  no  one  unacquainted  with  the  facts  would  have 
supposed  for  a  moment  that  he  was  then  winning  the  bright 
est  laurels  and  laying  deep  the  foundations  of  his  imperish 
able  fame. 

Indeed,  he  rarely  alluded  at  all  to  his  own  exploits,  and 
never  spoke  of  them  except  in  the  most  modest,  becoming 
manner. 

I  cannot  better  illustrate  these  points  further  than  by 
giving  an  extract  from  the  eloquent  address  of  Colonel 
Charles  Marshall — the  accomplished  military  secretary  of 
General  Lee — delivered  at  the  Soldiers'  Memorial  Meeting 
in  Baltimore : 

"  We  recall  him  as  he  appeared  in  the  hour  of  victory, 
grand,  inlposing,  awe-inspiring,  yet  self-forgetful  and  hum 
ble.  We  recall  the  great  scenes  of  his  triumph,  when  we 
hailed  him  victor  on  many  a  bloody  field,  and  when  above 
the  pseans  of  victory  we  listened  with  reverence  to  his  voice 
as  he  ascribed  '  all  glory  to  the  Lord  of  hosts,  from  whom 
all  glories  are.'  We  remember  that  grand  magnanimity  that 
never  stooped  to  pluck  the  meaner  things  that  grow  nearest 
the  earth  upon  the  tree  of  victory,  but  which,  with  eyes 
turned  to  the  stars,  and  hands  raised  toward  heaven,  gathered 
golden  fruits  of  mercy,  pity,  and  holy  charity,  that  ripen  on 
its  topmost  bough  beneath  the  approving  smile  of  the  great 
God  of  battles. 

"  We  remember  the  sublime  self-abnegation  of  Chancel- 
lorsville,  when,  in  the  midst  of  his  victorious  legions,  who, 


150  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

with  the  light  of  battle  still  on  their  faces,  hailed  him  con 
queror,  he  thought  only  of  his  great  lieutenant  lying  wounded 
on  the  field,  and  transferred  to  him  all  the  honor  of  that  illus 
trious  day. 

"  I  will  be  pardoned,  I  am  sure,  for  referring  to  an  inci 
dent  which  affords  to  my  mind  a  most  striking  illustration  of 
one  of  the  grandest  features  of  his  character. 

"  On  the  morning  of  May  3,  1863,  as  many  of  you  will 
remember,  the  final  assault  was  made  upon  the  Federal  lines 
at  Chancellorsville. 

"  General  Lee  accompanied  the  troops  in  person,  and  as 
they  emerged  from  the  fierce  combat  they  had  waged  in  '  the 
depths  of  that  tangled  wilderness,'  driving  the  superior  forces 
of  the  enemy  before  them  across  the  open  ground,  he  rode 
into  their  midst.  The  scene  is  one  that  can  never  be  effaced 
from  the  minds  of  those  who  witnessed  it.  The  troops  were 
pressing  forward  with  all  the  ardor  and  enthusiasm  of  com 
bat.  The  white  smoke  of  musketry  fringed  the  front  of  the 
line  of  battle,  while  the  artillery  on  the  hills  in  the  rear  of 
the  infantry  shook  the  earth  with  its  thunder,  and  filled  the 
air  with  the  wild  shrieks  of  the  shells  that  plunged  into  the 
masses  of  the  retreating  foe.  To  add  greater  horror  and 
sublimity  to  the  scene,  the  Chancellorsville  House  and  the 
woods  surrounding  it  were  wrapped  in  flames.  In  the  midst 
of  this  awful  scene  General  Lee,  mounted  upon  that  horse 
which  we  all  remember  so  well,  rode  to  the  front  of  his  ad 
vancing  battalions.  His  presence  was  the  signal  for  one  of 
those  uncontrollable  outbursts  of  enthusiasm  which  none  can 
appreciate  who  have  not  witnessed  them. 

"  The  fierce  soldiers,  with  their  faces  blackened  with  the 
smoke  of  battle,  the  wounded,  crawling  with  feeble  limbs 
from  the  fury  of  the  devouring  flames,  all  seemed  possessed 
with  a  common  impulse.  One  long,  unbroken  cheer,  in 
which  the  feeble  cry  of  those  who  lay  helpless  on  the  earth 
blended  with  the  strong  voices  of  those  who  still  fought,  rose 
high  above  the  roar  of  battle,  and  hailed  the  presence  of  the 


HIS  MODEST  HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND   GENTLENESS.  151 

victorious  chief.  He  sat  in  the  full  realization  of  all  that 
soldiers  dream  of — triumph ;  and  as  I  looked  upon  him  in 
the  complete  fruition  of  the  success  which  his  genius,  courage, 
and  confidence  in  his  army  had  won,  I  thought  that  it  must 
have  been  from  some  such  scene  that  men  in  ancient  days  as 
cended  to  the  dignity  of  the  gods. 

"  His  first  care  was  for  the  wounded  of  both  armies,  and 
he  was  among  the  foremost  at  the  burning  mansion  where 
some  of  them  lay.  But  at  that  moment,  when  the  transports 
of  his  victorious  troops  were  drowning  the  roar  of  battle  with 
acclamations,  a  note  was  brought  to  him  from  General  Jack 
son.  It  was  brought  to  General  Lee  as  he  sat  on  his  horse, 
near  the  Chancellorsville  House,  and,  unable  to  open  it  with 
his  gauntleted  hands,  he  passed  it  to  me  with  directions  to 
read  it  to  him.  The  note  made  no  mention  of  the  wound 
that  General  Jackson  had  received,  but  congratulated  Gen 
eral  Lee  upon  the  great  victory. 

"  I  shall  never  forget  the  look  of  pain  and  anguish  that 
passed  over  his  face  as  he  listened.  With  a  voice  broken 
with  emotion  he  bade  me  say  to  General  Jackson  that  the  vic 
tory  was  his,  and  that  the  congratulations  were  due  to  him. 
I  know  not  how  others  may  regard  this  incident,  but,  for  my 
self,  as  I  gave  expression  to  the  thoughts  of  his  exalted 
mind,  I  forgot  the  genius  that  won  the  day  in  my  reverence 
for  the  generosity  that  refused  its  glory. 

"  There  is  one  other  incident  to  which  I  beg  permission 
to  refer,  that  I  may  perfect  the  picture.  On  the  3d  day  of 
July,  1863,  the  last  assault  of  the  Confederate  troops  upon 
the  heights  of  Gettysburg  failed,  and  again  General  Lee  was 
among  his  baffled  and  shattered  battalions  as  they  sullenly  re 
tired  from  their  brave  attempt.  The  history  of  that  battle  is 
yet  to  be  written,  and  the  responsibility  for  the  result  is  yet 
to  be  fixed. 

"  But  there,  with  the  painful  consciousness  that  his  plans 
had  been  frustrated  by  others,  and  that  defeat  and  humilia 
tion  had  overtaken  his  army,  in  the  presence  of  his  troops  he 


[52  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

openly  assumed  the  entire  responsibility  of  the  campaign,  and 
of  the  last  battle.  One  word  from  him  would  have  relieved 
him  of  this  responsibility,  but  that  word  he  refused  to  utter  un 
til  it  could  be  spoken  without  fear  of  doing  the  least  injustice. 
-  Thus,  my  fellow-soldiers,  I  have  presented  to  you  our  great 
commander  in  the  supreme  moments  of  triumph  and  of  de 
feat.  I  cannot  more  strongly  illustrate  his  character.  Has 
it  been  surpassed  in  history  ?  Is  there  another  instance  of 
such  self-abnegation  among  men  ?  The  man  rose  high  above 
victory  in  the  one  instance,  and,  harder  still,  the  man  rose 
superior  to  disaster  in  the  other.  It  was  such  incidents  as 
these  that  gave  General  Lee  the  absolute  and  undoubting  con 
fidence  and  affection  of  his  soldiers." 

To  Jackson's  note  informing  him  that  he  was  wounded 
General  Lee  replied  :  "I  cannot  express  my  regret  at  the  oc 
currence.  Could  I  have  directed  events  I  should  have  chosen, 
for  the  good  of  the  country,  to  have  been  disabled  in  your 
stead.  I  congratulate  you  on  the  victory  which  is  due  to 
your  skill  and  energy."  It  was  on  the  reception  of  these 
touching  words  that  the  wounded  chieftain  exclaimed :  "  Bet 
ter  that  ten  Jacksons  should  fall  than  one  Lee." 

Several  days  afterward,  when  his  great  lieutenant  was 
reported  to  be  doing  well,  Lee  playfully  sent  him  word : 
"  You  are  better  off  than  I  am ;  for  while  you  have  only  lost 
your  lef^  I  have  lost  my  right  arm." 

Hearing  soon  after  that  Jackson  was  growing  worse,  he 
expressed  the  deepest  concern  and  said :  "  Tell  him  that  I  am 
praying  for  him  as  I  believe  I  have  never  prayed  for  my 
self." 

The  10th  of  May,  1863,  was  a  beautiful  Sabbath-day,  and 
Rev.  B.  T.  Lacy,  at  the  special  request  of  the  dying  chief 
tain,  left  his  bedside  to  hold  his  usual  services  at  the  head 
quarters  of  the  Second  Corps.  General  Lee  was  present  at 
the  service,  and  at  its  conclusion  he  took  Mr.  Lacy  aside  to 
inquire  particularly  after  Jackson's  condition.  Upon  being 
told  that  he  would  not  probably  live  through  the  day,  he  ex 


HIS   MODEST   HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND   GENTLENESS.  153 

claimed :  "  Oh,  sir,  lie  must  not  die.  Surely  God  will  not 
visit  us  with  such  a  calamity.  If  I  have  ever  prayed  in  my 
life,  I  have  pleaded  with  the  Lord  that  Jackson  might  be 
spared  to  us."  And  then  his  heart  swelled  with  emotion  too 
deep  for  utterance,  and  he  turned  away  to  weep  like  a  child. 

The  warm  friendship  which  existed  between  Lee  and 
Jackson  is  in  beautiful  contrast  with  the  petty  jealousies  and 
bickerings  which  have  not  unfrequently  marked  the  rela 
tions  and  interfered  with  the  success  of  military  chieftains. 

The  rising  fame  of  Jackson  excited  no  envy  in  the  bosom 
of  Lee ;  but  the  praises  of  the  lieutenant  were  most  heartily 
indorsed  by  the  commander-in-chief,  who  gave  him  his  full 
confidence  and  warm  personal  friendship.  He  announced 
to  the  troops  the  death  of  Jackson  in  the  following  order : 

"  General  Orders  No.  61. 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  May  11,  1863. 
"  With  deep  grief  the  commanding  general  announces  to  the 
army  the  death  of  Lieutenant-General  T.  J.  Jackson,  who  ex 
pired  on  the  10th  inst.,  at  a  quarter  past  3  P.  M.  The  dar 
ing,  skill,  and  energy  of  this  great  and  good  soldier  are  now, 
by  the  decree  of  an  all-wise  Providence,  lost  to  us.  But,  while 
we  mourn  his  death,  we  feel  that  his  spirit  still  lives,  and  will 
inspire  the  whole  army  with  his  indomitable  courage,  and  un 
shaken  confidence  in  God  as  our  hope  and  strength.  Let  his 
name  be  a  watchword  to  his  corps,  who  have  followed  him  to 
victory  on  so  many  fields.  Let  his  officers  and  soldiers  emulate 
his  invincible  determination  to  do  every  thing  in  the  defense  of 
our  beloved  country.  R.  E.  LEE,  General." 

In  a  private  letter  to  his  wife  General  Lee  wrote : 

"CAMP  NEAR  FREDERICKSBURG,  Nay  11,  1863. 

" In  addition  to  the  death  of  officers  and  friends  con 
sequent  upon  the  late  battle,  you  will  see  that  we  have  to 
mourn  the  loss  of  the  great  and  good  Jackson.  Any  victory 
would  be  dear  at  such  a  price.  His  remains  go  to  Richmond 
to-day.  I  know  not  how  to  replace  him ;  but  God's  will  be 


154  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

done !  I  trust  He  will  raise  up  some  one  in  his  place.  The  papers 
will  give  you  all  the  particulars.  I  have  no  time  to  narrate 
them." 

The  following  extract  from  an  article  in  the  Southern 
Magazine  on  "  Stonewall  Jackson  between  his  Death-bed  and 
his  Grave,"  by  Major  H.  Kyd  Douglas,  of  Jackson's  staff, 
well  illustrates  this  point : 

"  On  Monday  morning,  at  the  request  of  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  Stonewall  Brigade,  I  went  to  ask  General 
Lee  if  in  his  judgment  it  was  proper  to  permit  the  old  bri 
gade,  or  a  part  of  it,  to  accompany  the  remains  of  General 
Jackson  to  Eichmond  as  an  escort.  I  found  the  commander- 
in-chief  walking  in  front  of  his  tent,  looking  sad  and 
thoughtful.  He  listened  attentively  to  my  request,  and  then, 
in  a  voice  as  gentle  and  sad  as  his  looks,  replied :  '  I  am  sure 
no  one  can  feel  the  loss  of  General  Jackson  more  deeply 
than  I  do ;  for  no  one  has  the  same  reason.  I  have  lost  a 
dear  friend  and  an  invaluable  officer.  I  can  fully  appreciate 
the  feelings  of  the  men  of  his  old  brigade ;  they  have  reason 
to  mourn  for  him,  for  he  was  proud  of  them.  They  have 
been  with  him  and  true  to  him  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  I  should  be  glad  to  grant  any  request  they  might  make, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  show  their  regard  for  their  lost 
general ;  and  I  am  sorry  that  the  situation  of  affairs  will  not 
justify  me  in  permitting  them  to  go  with  his  corpse,  not 
only  to  Eichmond,  but  to  Lexington,  that  they  might  see  it 
deposited  in  its  last  resting-place.  But  it  may  not  be.  Those 
people  over  the  river  are  again  showing  signs  of  movement, 
and  it  is  so  necessary  for  me  to  be  on  hand  that  I  cannot 
leave  my  headquarters  long  enough  to  ride  to  the  depot  and 
pay  my  dear  friend  the  poor  tribute  of  seeing  his  body 
placed  upon  the  cars.'  Then,  after  stating  what  orders  he 
had  sent  to  Eichmond  for  the  reception  of  the  remains,  he 
said :  '  His  friends  of  the  Stonewall  Brigade  may  be  assured 
their  general  will  receive  all  the  honor  practicable  But  as 


X7    x 
/  X* 


cin  aPfwtjamph  takf'i.  ru.3t  befirf  his  deat 


Hew  York.  D.  Appleton   &    Co. 


General  .'  ;d  a  duty  while  3 

( 

old  1-  ..     *  enemy  to  see  him 

bur;  .em,  and  ap- 

Tell 

•.f>v;m  ,  their 

• 

• 
• 

. 

•.•/ho  served 

whole  cf  his  brilliant  career),  'for 
autograph  letter  from  Lee  to  Jackson,  written  on 
of  the  "battle  of  Fred  rg;  : 

"HEADQUARTERS,  December  13,  1862. 

"  GKSER.LL  :  Will  you  direct  your  ordmince-officer,  Major  Bier, 
•!.l  to  (.riiinney's  Depoir  immediately  all  the  empty  ordnance- 

hicb 


lies. 


.'S  who  c 
that  the  enemy 
-c  Weil,  J  kc< 
of 


150  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

Say  to  General  Jaclzson  that  lie  knows  just  as  well  what  to 
do  with  the  enemy  as  I  do" 

To  one  of  his  trusted  officers  he  said,  after  Jackson's 
death:  "I  had  such  implicit  confidence  in  Jackson's  skill 
and  energy,  that  I  never  troubled  myself  to  give  him  de 
tailed  instructions.  The  most  general  suggestions  were  aD 
that  he  needed." 

In  speaking  of  Jackson  one  day  not  long  before  his  own 
fatal  illness,  and  of  the  irreparable  loss  the  South  sustained 
in  his  death,  General  Lee  said,  with  emphasis :  "  If  I  had  had 
Stonewall  Jackson  at  Gettysburg,  we  should  have  won  a 
great  victory.  And  I  feel  confident  that  a  complete  success 
there  would  have  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  our  inde 
pendence." 

And  this  affectionate  confidence  of  his  chief  was  fully 
reciprocated  by  Jackson.  In  the  summer  of  1862  (soon  after 
General  Lee  had  taken  command  of  the  army)  some  officer 
ventured  to  intimate  in  his  presence  that  the  new  commander 
was  "  slow,"  and  that  the  army  needed  such  an  active  leader 
as  the  one  who  had  just  double-quicked  his  "  foot  cavalry  " 
through  the  splendid  "  Valley  campaign."  Instead  of  being 
pleased  at  the  compliment  intended  to  be  paid  him,  Jackson 
replied,  in  indignant  tones :  "  General  Lee  is  not  '  slow.'  No 
one  knows  the  weight  upon  his  heart— his  great  responsibili 
ties.  He  is  commander-in-chief,  and  he  knows  that  if  his 
army  is  lost,  it  cannot  be  replaced.  No  !  there  may  be  some 
persons  whose  good  opinion  of  me  may  make  them  attach 
some  weight  to  my  views,  and  if  you  ever  hear  that  said  of 
General  Lee,  I  beg  that  you  will  contradict  it  in  my  name. 
I  have  known  General  Lee  for  five-and-twenty  years.  He  is 
cautious.  He  ought  to  be.  But  he  is  not  '  slow.'  Lee  is  a 
phenomenon.  He  is  the  only  man  whom  I  would  follow 
blindfold." 

The  opinion  thus  expressed  in  the  early  days  of  their 
service  together  during  the  late  war  (they  were  comrades  in 
'Mexico^  seems  to  have  strengthened  up  to  the  death  of  Jack- 


HIS   MODEST  HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND  GENTLENESS.  157 

son,  and  it  has  been  said  by  a  gallant  soldier  and  facile  writer 
(Colonel  John  Esten  Cooke),  who  knew  them  both  well,  that 
the  lieutenant  always  thought  what  the  chief  directed  or  sug 
gested  the  very  lest  tiling  to  do,  and  that  about  the  only  oc 
casion  upon  which  he  openly  expressed  dissent  from  Lee's 
opinions  was  when  he  said,  on  receiving  his  note  of  congratu 
lation  on  the  victory  of  Chancellorsville, '  General  Lee  should 
give  the  glory  to  God?  " 

In  several  private  letters  to  Mrs.  Jackson,  General  Lee 
expressed  his  warmest  admiration  and  regard  for  her  "  great 
and  good  husband." 

The  following  is  given  in  full,  and  will  be  read  with 
deep  interest  by  many  old  soldiers  who  so  well  remember 
the  coat : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  18,  1868. 
11  Mrs.  M.  A.  JACKSON,  Care  of  James  P.  Irwin,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  JACKSOX  :  In  compliance  with  your  wishes, 
as  expressed  in  your  note  of  the  6th  inst.,  I  forward  by  express, 
to  the  care  of  Mr.  James  P.  Irwin,  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  the  over 
coat  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Bryan,  of  Virginia. 

"  It  has  appeared  to  me  most  proper  that  this  relic  of  your 
husband,  though  painfully  recalling  his  death,  should  be  pos 
sessed  by  you,  and  I  take  great  pleasure  in  transmitting  it  to 
you. 

"  I  inclose  you  an  extract  from  Mr.  Bryan's  letter,  describ 
ing  how  the  coat  came  into  his  possession,  etc. 

"  It  is  a  familiar  object  to  my  sight,  and  must  recall  sad  rem 
iniscences  to  the  mind  of  every  soldier  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia. 

"  With  my  most  earnest  wishes  for  the  welfare  and  happi 
ness  of  yourself  and  daughter,  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  gives  pleasing  evidence  of  his  deep  inter 
est  in  all  details  concerning  the  history  of  his  great  lieu 
tenant  : 


158  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  5,  I860. 
"  Mr.  D.  CKEEL,  Chillicothe,  Ohio. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  24th  ult., 
and  thank  you  for  the  interesting  account  of  the  early  history  of 
General  T.  J.  Jackson.  It  is  as  pleasant  as  profitable  to  con 
template  his  character,  to  recall  his  patriotism,  his  piety,  and 
his  unselfish  nature.  The  early  instructions  of  his  mother,  whom 
he  seems  never  to  have  forgotten,  may  have  had  great  influence 
in  shaping  his  course  through  life,  and  that  mother  may  have 
been  greatly  indebted  to  you  for  qualifying  her  for  the  discharge 
of  her  important  duty.  I  hope  that  the  remainder  of  your  days 
may  be  passed  in  peace  and  rest ;  and  that  the  merciful  God 
who  has  given  you  such  length  of  days,  and  protected  you  amid 
so  many  dangers,  may  comfort  and  support  you  to  the  end. 
"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"RE.  LEE." 

It  is  due  alike  to  General  Lee  and  to  the  truth  of  his 
tory  that  the  following  letter  should  be  given  in  full ;  and  I 
do  so  on  my  own  responsibility,  hoping  that  the  distinguished 
gentleman  to  whom  it  is  addressed  will  pardon  the  liberty 
I  take : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  October  28,  1867. 
"  Dr.  A.  T.  BLEDSOE,  Office  of  Southern  Review,  Baltimore,  Md. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  regret  that  I  am  unable  to  comply  with 
your  request  to  write  a  review  of  Hozier's  '  Seven  Weeks'  War,' 
but  my  time  is  so  much  occupied  that  I  could  not  sufficiently 
study  the  campaign,  or  inform  myself  of  the  incidents  of  the  war. 

"  At  the  time  of  the  occurrence,  I  thought  I  saw  the  mistake 
committed  by  the  Austrians ;  but  I  did  not  know  all  the  facts, 
and  you  are  aware  that,  though  it  is  easy  to  write  on  such  a  sub 
ject,  it  is  difficult  to  elucidate  the  truth. 

"  In  reply  to  your  inquiry,  I  must  acknowledge  that  I  have 
not  read  the  article  on  Chancellorsville  in  the  last  number  of  the 
Southern  fleview,  nor  have  I  read  any  of  the  books  published  on 
either  side  since  the  termination  of  hostilities.  I  have  as  yet 
felt  no  desire  to  revive  my  recollections  of  those  events,  and 
have  been  satisfied  with  the  knowledge  I  possessed  of  what 


HIS  MODEST  HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND  GENTLENESS.  159 

transpired.  I  have,  however,  learned  from  others  that  the  vari 
ous  authors  of  the  *  Life  of  Jackson '  award  to  him  the  credit  of 
the  success  gained  by  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  where  he 
was  present,  and  describe  the  movements  of  his  corps  or  com 
mand  as  independent  of  the  general  plan  of  operations,  and  un 
dertaken  at  his  own  suggestion,  and  upon  his  own  responsibility. 
I  have  the  greatest  reluctance  to  do  any  thing  that  might  be  con 
sidered  as  detracting  from  his  well-deserved  fame,  for  I  believe 
that  no  one  was  more  convinced  of  his  worth,  or  appreciated 
him  more  highly,  than  myself;  yet  your  knowledge  of  military 
affairs,  if  you  have  none  of  the  events  themselves,  will  teach  you 
that  this  could  not  have  been  so.  Every  movement  of  an  army 
must  be  well  considered,  and  properly  ordered ;  and  every  one 
who  knows  General  Jackson  must  know  that  he  was  too  good  a 
soldier  to  violate  this  fundamental  military  principle.  In  the 
operations  round  Chancellorsville  I  overtook  General  Jackson, 
who  had  been  placed  in  command  of  the  advance  as  the  skir 
mishers  of  the  approaching  armies  met,  advanced  with  the 
troops  to  the  Federal  line  of  defenses,  and  was  on  the  field  un 
til  their  whole  army  recrossed  the  Rappahannock.  There  is  no 
question  as  to  who  was  responsible  for  the  operations  of  the 
Confederates,  or  to  whom  any  failure  would  have  been  charged. 
"What  I  have  said  is  for  your  own  information.  With  my  best 
wishes  for  the  success  of  the  Southern  Review,  and  for  your 
own  welfare,  in  both  of  which  I  take  a  lively  interest,  I  am,  with 
great  respect,  your  friend  and  servant,  R.  E.  LEE." 

Those  who  have  attempted  to  institute  comparisons  be 
tween  Lee  and  Jackson,  or  to  exalt  one  at  the  expense  of  the 
other,  have  utterly  misapprehended  the  character  of  both. 
They  were,  indeed,  par  nobile  fratrum.  They  worked  to 
gether  for  the  cause  they  loved — their  bodies  sleep  near  each 
other  in  the  beautiful  "  Valley  of  Virginia " — and  it  is  a 
pleasing  fancy  that,  when  Lee  "  struck  his  tent "  and  "  crossed 
over  the  river  to  rest  under  the  shade  of  the  trees,"  Jackson 
was  the  first  to  greet  and  welcome  Mm  to  those  fadeless  joys. 

And  these  pleasant  relations  between  these  two  great 


160  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

men  were  by  no  means  exceptional.  Lee  bore  himself  in 
the  same  manner  toward  all  of  his  officers,  and  none  of  them 
could  charge  that  he  ever  sought  for  himself  honor  or  credit 
which  justly  belonged  to  others.  But,  on  the  contrary,  he 
sometimes  suffered  himself  to  be  censured  when,  by  a  word, 
he  could  have  transferred  the  blame  to  others. 

We  have  seen,  above,  what  a  member  of  his  staff  says  of 
his  conduct,  as  he  moved  among  his  shattered  battalions  after, 
their  unsuccessful  assault  on  the  heights  of  Gettysburg.  And, 
lest  it  be  thought  that  he  looked  through  the  eyes  of  too  par 
tial  friendship,  we  give  the  following  from  an  account  of  the 
same  scene  written  by  Colonel  Freemantle,  of  the  English 
Army,  who  was  also  an  eye-witness  : 

"  I  joined  General  Lee,  who  had,  in  the  mean  while,  come 
to  the  front  on  becoming  aware  of  the  disaster.  General  Lee 
was  perfectly  sublime.  He  was  engaged  in  rallying  and  en 
couraging  the  broken  troops,  and  was  riding  about  a  little  in 
front  of  the  wood,  quite  alone — the  whole  of  his  staff  being 
engaged  in  a  similar  manner  farther  to  the  rear.  His  face, 
which  is  always  placid  and  cheerful,  did  not  show  signs  of 
the  slightest  disappointment,  care,  or  annoyance  ;  and  he  was 
addressing  to  every  soldier  he  met  a  few  words  of  encourage 
ment,  such  as  c  All  this  will  come  right  in  the  end  ;  we'll  talk 
it  over  afterward ;  but,  in  the  mean  time,  all  good  men  must 
rally.  We  want  all  good  and  true  men  just  now,'  etc.  lie 
spoke  to  all  the  wounded  men  that  passed  him,  and  the  slight 
ly  wounded  he  exhorted  to  '  bind  up  their  hurts  and  take  a 
musket '  in  this  emergency.  Yery  few  failed  to  answer  his 
appeal,  and  I  saw  badly-wounded  men  take  off  their  hats  and 

cheer  him.    General now  came  up  to  him,  and,  in  very 

depressed  tones  of  annoyance  and  vexation,  explained  the  state 
of  his  brigade.  But  General  Lee  immediately  shook  hands 
with  him,  and  said,  in  a  cheerful  manner :  f  Never  mind,  gen 
eral.  All  this  has  been  my  fault.  It  is  I  that  have  lost  this 
fight,  and  you  must  help  me  out  of  it  the  best  way  you  can.' 
In  this  manner  did  General  Lee,  wholly  ignoring  self  and 


HIS  MODEST   HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND   GENTLENESS.  161 

position,  encourage  and  reanimate  his  somewhat  dispirited 
troops,  and  magnanimously  take  upon  his  own  shoulders  the 
whole  weight  of  the  repulse.  It  was  impossible  to  look  at 
him,  or  to  listen  to  him,  without  feeling  the  strongest  admi 
ration." 

The  effect  of  his  conduct  on  the  troops  was  electrical : 
the  broken  commands  were  rallied,  and  his  army  soon  pre 
sented  such  a  determined  front,  that  General  Meade  did  not 
deem  it  prudent  to  attack. 

When  General  Lee  reached  Hagerstown  in  his  retrograde 
movement,  the  Potomac  was  past  fording.  Meade' s  army 
was  close  upon  his  rear ;  the  Northern  press  were  clamorous 
for  the  capture  of  "Lee's  beaten, dispirited  ragamuffins,"  and 
another  battle  seemed  imminent.  The  following  stirring 
order  was  issued : 

"General  Order  No.  16. 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  July  11,  1863. 

"  After  the  long  and  trying  marches,  endured  with  the  forti 
tude  that  lias  ever  characterized  the  soldiers  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  you  have  penetrated  to  the  country  of  our 
enemies,  and  recalled  to  the  defense  of  their  own  soil  those  who 
were  engaged  in  the  invasion  of  ours.  You  have  fought  a  fierce 
and  sanguinary  battle,  which,  if  not  attended  with  the  success 
that  has  hitherto  crowned  your  efforts,  was  marked  by  the  same 
heroic  spirit  that  has  commanded  the  respect  of  your  enemies, 
the  gratitude  of  your  country,  and  the  admiration  of  mankind. 

Once  more  you  are  called  upon  to  meet  the  enemy  from 
whom  you  have  torn  so  many  fields — names  that  will  never  die. 
Once  more  the  eyes  of  }rour  countrymen  are  turned  upon  you, 
and  again  do  wives  and  sisters,  fathers  and  mothers,  and  helpless 
children,  lean  for  defense  on  your  strong  arms  and  brave  hearts. 
Let  every  soldier  remember  that  on  his  courage  and  fidelity 
depends  all  that  makes  life  worth  having,  the  freedom  of  his 
country,  the  honor  of  his  people,  and  the  security  of  his  home. 
Let  each  heart  grow  strong  in  the  remembrance  of  our  glorious 
past,  and  in  the  thought  of  the  inestimable  blessings  for  which 
11 


[62  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

we  contend ;  and,  invoking  the  assistance  of  that  heavenly 
Power  which  has  so  signally  blessed  our  former  efforts,  let  us 
go  forth  in  confidence  to  secure  the  peace  and  safety  of  cur 
country.  Soldiers  !  your  old  enemy  is  before  you.  Win  from 
him  honor  worthy  of  your  right  cause,  worthy  of  your  comrades 
dead  on  so  many  illustrious  fields. 

"R.  E.  LEE,  General  commanding" 

This  address  was  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 
That  army  was  never  more  eager  to  fight,  or  more  confident 
of  victory,  than  it  was  that  day,  and  General  Meade  showed 
his  able  generalship  in  not  making  the  attack. 

In  the  winter  of  1864  the  following  incident  went  the 
rounds  of  the  Southern  press : 

"  One  very  cold  morning  a  young  soldier  on  the  cars  to 
Petersburg  was  making  fruitless  efforts  to  put  on  his  over 
coat,  with  his  arm  in  a  sling.  His  teeth,  as  well  as  his  sound 
arm,  were  brought  into  use  to  effect  the  object ;  but  in  the 
midst  of  his  efforts  an  officer  rose  from  his  seat,  advanced  to 
him,  and  very  carefully  and  tenderly  assisted  him,  drawing 
the  coat  gently  over  his  wounded  arm,  and  buttoning  it  com 
fortably  ;  then,  with  a  few  kind  and  pleasant  words,  returned 
to  his  seat. 

"  Now  the  officer  in  question  was  not  clad  in  gorgeous 
uniform,  with  a  brilliant  wreath  upon  the  collar,  and  a  mul 
titude  of  gilt  lines  upon  the  sleeves,  resembling  the  famous 
labyrinth  of  Crete,  but  he  was  clad  in  ( a  simple  suit  of  gray,' 
distinguished  from  the  garb  of  a  civilian  only  by  the  three 
stars  which  every  Confederate  colonel  is,  by  the  regulations, 
entitled  to  wear.  And  yet  he  was  no  other  than  our  chief 
general,  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  is  not  braver  than  he  is  good 
and  modest." 

It  is  related  that  during  the  seven  days'  battle  he  was 
quietly  sitting  under  a  tree,  the  approaching  shades  of  evening 
concealing  even  his  stars,  and  none  of  his  aides  or  couriers 
being  present,  when  an  impetuous  surgeon  galloped  up  and 


HIS  MODEST  HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND  GENTLENESS.   163 

abruptly  said :  "  Old  man,  I  have  chosen  that  tree  for  my 
field-hospital,  and  I  want  you  to  get  out  of  the  way." 

"  I  will  cheerfully  give  place  when  the  wounded  come, 
doctor,  but  in  the  mean  time  there  is  a  plenty  of  room  for 
both  of  us,"  was  the  meek  rejoinder.  The  irate  surgeon  was 
about  to  make  some  harsh  reply,  when  to  his  utter  consterna 
tion  a  staff -officer  rode  up  and  addressed  his  "  old  man  "  as 
General  Lee.  To  his  profuse  apologies  and  explanations,  the 
general  quietly  replied :  "It  is  no  matter,  doctor ;  there  is 
plenty  of  room  for  both  of  us  until  your  wounded  are 
brought." 

The  following  was  found  in  his  own  handwriting  on  one 
of  the  loose  sheets  in  the  satchel  to  which  I  have  before  re 
ferred  : 

"  The  forbearing  use  of  power  does  not  only  form  a 
touchstone,  but  the  manner  in  which  an  individual  enjoys 
certain  advantages  over  others  is  a  test  of  a  true  gentleman. 

"  The  power  which  the  strong  have  over  -the  weak,  the 
magistrate  over  the  citizen,  the  employer  over  the  employed, 
the  educated  over  the  unlettered,  the  experienced  over  the 
confiding,  even  the  clever  over  the  silly — the  forbearing  or  inof 
fensive  use  of  all  this  power  or  authority,  or  a  total  abstinence 
from  it  when  the  case  admits  it,  will  show  the  gentleman  in 
a  plain  light.  The  gentleman  does  not  needlessly  and  unne 
cessarily  remind  an  offender  of  a  wrong  he  may  have  com 
mitted  against  him.  He  cannot  only  forgive,  he  can  forget ; 
and  he  strives  for  that  nobleness  of  self  and  mildness  of 
character  which  impart  sufficient  strength  to  let  the  past  be 
but  the  past.  A  true  man  of  honor  feels  humbled  himself 
when  he  cannot  help  humbling  otJiers" 

The  following  incident  is  from  the  Norfolk  Virginian  of 
October,  1870 : 

"  Some  years  ago  we  stood,  in  company  with  General 
Lee,  watching  a  fire  in  the  mountains,  which  blazed  out  with 
a  baleful  glare  on  the  darkness  of  a  winter's  night.  The 
scene  was  as  picturesque  as  any  Salvator  ever  painted,  and 


164  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

the  conversation  naturally  turned  on  its  beauty.  At  last  ap 
pealed  to  for  an  opinion,  the  general  replied  :  '  It  is  beautiful, 
but  I  have  been  thinking  of  the  poor  animals  which  must 
perish  in  the  flames.'  There  was  no  affectation  in  this.  His 
tone  was  simple  and  earnest — his  manner  a  complete  nega 
tion  of  all  art.  "With  this  wealth  of  tenderness,  added  to  his 
grand  and  knightly  attributes  of  character,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  his  people  loved  him  with  all  their  hearts,  and  cherish 
his  memory  with  a  passionate  devotion." 

An  officer  who  witnessed  the  incident  relates  that  on  one 
occasion  in  1864,  when  General  Lee  was  visiting  Captain 
G—  —  's  battery,  on  the  lines  below  .Richmond,  the  soldiers 
gathered  near  him  so  as  to  attract  the  enemy's  fire. 

Turning  to  them  he  said,  in  a  very  quiet  tone  and  man 
ner  :  "  Men,  you  had  better  go  into  the  back-yard ;  they  are 
firing  up  here,  and  you  are  exposing  yourselves  to  unnecessary 
danger." 

The  men  obeyed  the  order,  but  saw  their  loved  general 
walk  across  the  yard  (as  if  entirely  unconscious  of  any  per 
sonal  danger),  and  stoop  down  to  pick  up  tenderly  some  small 
object,  and  place  it  gently  upon  a  tree  over  his  head. 

It  was  afterward  ascertained  that  the  object  which  had 
thus  attracted  his  attention  under  the  enemy's  fire,  was  an 
unfledged  sparrow  that  had  fallen  from  its  nest. 

That  loving  Father,  without  whose  knowledge  not  even 
a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground,  gave  to  the  stern  warrior  a 
heart  so  tender  that  he  could  pause  amid  the  death-dealing 
missiles  of  the  battle-field  to  care  for  a  helpless  little  bird. 

His  letters  to  his  family  were  full  of  expressions  of  inter 
est  in  birds  and  animals,  or  flowers.  In  a  letter  from  Fort 
Brown,  Texas,  December,  1856,  he  says : 

" ....  I  am  able  to  give  you  but  little  news,  as  nothing 
of  interest  transpires  here,  and  I  rarely  see  any  one  outside 
the  garrison.  My  daily  walks  are  alone,  up  and  down  the 
banks  of  the  river,  and  my  pleasure  is  derived  from  my  own 
thoughts,  and  from  the  sight  of  the  flowers  and  animals  I 


HIS   MODEST  HUMILITY,  SIMPLICITY,  AND   GENTLENESS.  165 

there  meet  with.  The  birds  of  the  Kio  Grande  form  a  con 
stant  source  of  interest,  and  are  as  numerous  as  they  are 
beautiful  in  plumage.  I  wish  I  could  get  for  you  the  roots 
of  some  of  the  luxuriant  vines  that  cover  every  thing,  or 
the  seeds  of  the  innumerable  flowers." 

He  paused  amid  his  pressing  duties  at  Gettysburg,  to  re 
prove  an  officer  who  was  beating  an  unruly  horse.  For  the 
noble  animal  which  bore  him  through  so  many  of  his  cam 
paigns  he  cherished  the  tenderest  regard.  In  a  letter  writ 
ten  from  the  Springs  to  his  clerk  in  Lexington,  he  says: 
aHow  is  Traveler?  Tell  him  I  miss  him  dreadfully,  and 
have  repented  of  our  separation  but  once,  and  that  is  the 
whole  time  since  we  parted." 

To  those  who  knew  his  affection  for  this  favorite  horse  it 
was  very  touchingly  appropriate  to  see  him,  with  saddle  and 
accoutrements  draped,  led  in  the  funeral  procession  by  two 
old  soldiers,  and  we  could  almost  fancy  that  "  Traveler  "  ap 
preciated  his  loss,  and  entered  keenly  into  the  common  sor 
row. 

His  modest  humility  was  very  evident  in  his  correspond 
ence,  and  many  letters  illustrating  it  might  be  given.  The 
several  following  must  suffice  : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  September 26,  1866. 

"Mr.  EDWARD  A.  POLLARD,  Care  of  L.  8.  Palmer  &  Co.,  \ 
104  West  Baltimore  St.,  Baltimore,  Md.  \ 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  return  to  you  my  thanks  for  the  compliment 
paid  me  by  your  proposition  to  write  a  history  of  my  life.  It  is  a 
hazardous  undertaking  to  publish  the  life  of  any  one  while  liv 
ing,  and  there  are  but  few  who  would  desire  to  read  a  true  his 
tory  of  themselves.  Independently  of  the  few  national  events 
with  which  mine  has  been  connected,  it  presents  little  to  interest 
the  general  reader.  Nor  do  I  know  where  to  refer  you  for  the 
necessary  materials ;  all  my  private  as  well  as  public  records  have 
been  destroyed  or  lost,  and,  except  what  is  to  be  found  in  pub 
lished  documents,  I  know  of  nothing  available  for  the  purpose. 
Should  you,  therefore,  determine  to  undertake  the  work,  you 


[66  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

must  rely  upon  yourself,  as  my  time  is  so  fully  occupied  that  I 
am  unable  to  promise  you  any  assistance. 

"  Very  respectfully,         R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  21,  1866. 
"Mn.  EMMA  WILLABD,  Troy,  N.  T. 

"  I  received,  by  the  last  mail,  the  package  containing  your 
letter  of  the  15th  inst.  I  have  mailed  to  Generals  Johnston, 
Beauregard,  and  Bragg,  the  letters  for  them.  The  address  of 
the  first  is  Richmond,  Va.,  and  of  the  second,  New  Orleans,  La. 
Not  knowing  the  address  of  the  third,  I  have  forwarded  his 
letter  to  a  friend  in  New  Orleans,  who  will  give  it  the  proper  des 
tination.  I  know  of  no  one  here  who  can  give  you  as  correct  a 
history  of  the  life  of  General  T.  J.  Jackson  as  that  written  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Dabney,  which,  I  understand,  is  now  in  process 
of  publication  by  Blelock  &  Co.,  of  New  York  City.  I  am 
obliged  to  you  for  your  proposition  as  regards  myself,  but  it  is 
not  in  my  power  to  give  you  the  account  you  require ;  my  time 
is  too  fully  occupied  to  permit  me  to  undertake  it,  even  if  I 
were  able  to  make  it  of  value. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  rt  R.  E.  LEE." 

In  response  to  another  letter  from  a  Virginian  lady,  asking 
permission  to  visit  him  at  his  home  in  order  to  gather  mate 
rials  for  writing  his  biography,  lie  wrote  the  following  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  7,  1869. 

"Miss  •:  I  have  received   your  letter   of  the   3d  inst., 

and  am  sensible  of  the  implied  compliment  in  your  proposal  to 
write  a  history  of  my  life. 

"  I  should  be  happy  to  see  you  in  Lexington,  but  not  on  the 
errand  you  propose,  for  I  know  of  nothing  good  I  could  tell  you 
of  myself,  and  I  fear  I  should  not  like  to  say  any  evil.  The  few 
incidents  of  interest  in  which  I  have  been  engaged  are  as  well 
known  to  others  as  to  myself,  and  I  know  of  nothing  I  could  say 
in  addition. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 


CHAPTER  Y. 

HIS    SPIRIT   OF    SELF-DENIAL    FOR   THE    GOOD    OF    OTHERS. 

CLOSELY  allied  to  General  Lee's  modest  humility  was  his 
spirit  of  self-denial.  He  never  presumed  upon  his  position 
to  infringe  the  rights  of  others,  and  never  called  on  his  sol 
diers  to  make  sacrifices  or  endure  privations  which  he  was 
not  willing  to  share. 

Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens  says,  in  his  "War  between  the 
States,"  that  when  he  first  came  to  Richmond  as  a  commis 
sioner  of  the  Confederate  States,  to  induce  Virginia  to  join 
the  Confederacy  and  turn  over  to  it  her  army,  he  was  met  by 
a  serious  difficulty  in  the  rank  of  General  Lee. 

By  vote  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  he  had  been  made 
commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  of  that  State,  and  his  friends 
were  unwilling  for  him  to  have  less  rank,  while  on  the  other 
hand  there  were  other  officers  already  commissioned  who 
would  rank  him  in  the  Confederate  army.  Mr.  Stephens 
sought  an  interview  with  General  Lee  and  explained  to  him 
the  difficulty.  He  at  once  said  that  no  personal  interest  of 
his  should  for  a  single  moment  stand  in  the  way  of  the  inter 
ests  of  the  State ;  that  he  was  willing  to  take  any  position — 
even  in  the  ranks  as  a  private  soldier — in  which  he  could  best 
serve  the  common  cause ;  and  that  his  rank  should  not  for  a 
moment  bar  the  desired  union.  By  General  Lee's  personal 
influence  all  difficulty  was  removed,  and  the  fortunes  of  Vir 
ginia  were  blended  with  those  of  the  other  Southern  States. 
A  distinguished  gentleman,  who  at  the  time  held  an  important 


iGS  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

State  office,  Las  given  the  writer  the  following  incident,  of 
which  he  was  personally  cognizant :  Before  Virginia  united 
with  the  Confederacy,  President  Davis  had  offered  General 
Lee  a  position  in  the  Confederate  army,  which  he  declined  on 
the  ground  that  he  held  a  position  under  State  authority. 
Mr.  Davis  did  not  formally  renew  the  offer  after  the  union 
was  consummated,  because  he  took  it  for  granted  that  General 
Lee  would  come  into  his  proper  rank  in  the  Confederate  army. 
But  General  Lee  did  not  so  understand  it ;  he  was  not  the 
man  to  seek  place  for  himself  either  directly  or  indirectly ; 
and  he  was  quietly  getting  positions  for  his  staff,  and  arrang 
ing  to  enlist  as  a  private  soldier  in  a  cavalry  company,  when, 
through  mutual  friends,  the  mistake  was  discovered  and 
rectified. 

Soon  after  his  West  Yirginia  campaign,  when — strange  as 
it  seems  now — the  newspapers  and  many  of  the  people  were 
severely  censuring  him  for  not  fighting  Kosecrans,  he  said  to 
an  intimate  friend :  "  I  could  have  fought,  and  I  am  satisfied 
that  I  could  have  gained  a  victory.  But  the  nature  of  the 
country  was  such  that  it  would  have  proved  a  barren  victory, 
and  I  had  rather  sacrifice  my  military  reputation  and  quietly 
rest  under  this  unjust  censure  than  to  unnecessarily  sacrifice 
the  life  of  a  single  one  of  my  men." 

Ex-President  Davis  said,  in  his  speech  at  the  great  Memo 
rial  Meeting  in  Richmond,  that  on  General  Lee's  return  from 
that  campaign  he  gave  him  a  statement  of  the  facts,  which 
showed  beyond  all  cavil  that  the  failure  was  due  to  others  and 
not  to  himself.  And  yet  he  urged  Mr.  Davis  not  to  repeat 
his  statement,  as  he  would  rather  rest  under  censure  himself 
than  injure  in  the  public  esteem  any  who  were  bravely  strik 
ing  for  the  common  cause. 

General  Lee  rarely  slept  in  a  house — never  outside  of  his 
lines — during  the  war,  and  when  on  the  march  some  con 
venient  fence-corner  would  be  his  most  frequent  place  of 
bivouac.  The  writer  has  not  unf  requently  seen  some  colonel, 
or  major-quartermaster,  entertained  in  princely  style  at  some 


HIS  SELF-DENIAL  FOR  THE   GOOD   OF  OTHERS.  169 

hospitable  mansion,  while  near  by  the  commander-in-chief 
would  bivouac  in  the  open  air. 

He  never  allowed  his  mess  to  draw  from  the  commissary 
more  than  they  were  entitled  to,  and  not  unfrequently  he 
would  sit  down  to  a  dinner  meagre  in  quality  and  scant  in 
quantity. 

He  was  exceedingly  abstemious  in  his  own  habits.  He 
never  used  tobacco,  and  rarely  took  even  a  single  glass  of 
wine.  Whiskey  or  brandy  he  did  not  drink,  and  he  did  all 
in  his  power  to  discourage  their  use  by  others. 

In  the  spring  of  1861,  while  on  an  inspection  tour  to 
Xorf oik,  a  friend  there  insisted  that  he  should  take  two  bot 
tles  of  very  fine  old  "London  Dock"  brandy,  remarking 
that  he  would  be  certain  to  need  it,  and  would  find  it  very 
difficult  to  obtain  so  good  an  article.  General  Lee  declined 
the  offer,  saying  that  he  was  sure  he  would  not  need  it. 
"  As  proof  that  I  will  not,"  he  said,  "  I  maty  tell  you  that, 
just  as  I  was  starting  to  the  Mexican  War,  a  lady  in  Virginia 
prevailed  on  me  to  take  a  bottle  of  fine  old  whiskey,  which 
she  thought  I  could  not  get  on  without.  I  carried  that  bottle 
all  through  the  war  without  having  had  the  slightest  occasion 
to  use  it,  and  on  my  return  home  I  sent  it  back  to  my  good 
friend,  that  she  might  be  convinced  that  I  could  get  on  with 
out  liquor." 

But  the  gentleman  still  insisted,  and  the  general  politely 
yielded  and  took  the  two  bottles. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  met  a  brother  of  this  gentle 
man  (from  whom  I  get  the  incident)  in  Lexington,  and  said 
to  him :  "  Tell  your  brother  that  I  kept  the  brandy  he  gave 
me  all  through  the  war,  and  should  have  it  yet,  but  that  I 
was  obliged  to  use  it  last  summer  in  a  severe  illness  of  one 
of  my  daughters." 

I  was  walking  with  him  one  day  in  Lexington,  during 
the  sway  of  the  military,  when,  seeing  a  young  man  stagger 
out  of  one  of  the  bar-rooms,  he  seemed  very  much  annoyed 
by  the  spectacle,  and  said:  "I  wish  that  these  military 


170  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

gentlemen,  while  they  are  doing  so  many  things  which  they 
have  no  right  to  do,  would  close  up  all  of  these  grog-shops 
which  are  luring  our  young  men  to  destruction." 

That  he  felt  a  lively  interest  in  promoting  sobriety 
among  the  young  men  of  the  college,  the  following  letter 
will  show : 

"WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  VA.,  December  9,  1869. 
"  Messrs.  S.  G  M.  MILLER,  J.  L.  LOGAN,  T.  A.  ASIIBY,  Committee. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  The  announcement,  in  your  letter  of  the  8th 
inst.,  of  an  organization  of  the  '  Friends  of  Temperance '  in  the 
college,  has  given  me  great  gratification  ;  I  sincerely  hope  that 
it  may  be  the  cause  of  lasting  good,  not  only  to  the  members 
themselves,  but  to  all  those  with  whom  they  associate  to  the 
extent  of  their  influence  and  example.  My  experience  through 
life  has  convinced  me  that,  while  moderation  and  temperance 
in  all  things  are  commendable  and  beneficial,  abstinence  from 
spirituous  liquors  is  the  best  safeguard  to  morals  and  health. 
The  evidence  on  this  subject  that  has  come  within  my  own  ob 
servation  is  conclusive  to  my  mind,  and,  without  going  into  the 
recital,  I  cannot  too  earnestly  exhort  you  to  practise  habitual 
temperance,  so  that  you  may  form  the  habit  in  youth,  and  not 
feel  the  inclination,  or  temptation,  to  depart  from  it  in  man 
hood.  By  so  doing  your  health  will  be  maintained,  your  morals 
elevated,  and  your  success  in  life  promoted.  I  shall  at  all  times, 
and  in  whatever  way  I  can,  take  great  pleasure  in  advancing 
the  object  of  your  society,  and  you  may  rely  on  my  cooperation 
in  the  important  work  in  which  you  have  engaged. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

During  the  war  he  was  accustomed  to  do  every  thing  in 
his  power,  both  by  precept  and  example,  to  prevent  drunken 
ness  among  his  officers  and  men,  and  more  than  once  he 
refused  to  promote  an  officer  who  drank  too  freely,  saying, 
"  I  cannot  consent  to  place  in  the  control  of  others  one  who 
cannot  control  himself." 

It  may  be  worth  while  for  me  to  digress  so  far  as  to  sav 


K 


HIS  SELF-DENIAL  FOR  THE   GOOD   OF  OTHERS.  171 

that  Stonewall  Jackson,  "  Jeb  "  Stuart,  and  a  large  number 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Confederate  officers,  imi 
tated  the  example  of  their  chief,  and  were  strict  temperance 
men.  Upon  one  occasion  Jackson  was  suffering  so  much 
from  fatigue,  and  severe  exposure,  that  his  surgeon  pre 
vailed  on  him  to  take  a  little  brandy.  He  made  a  very  wry 
face  as  he  swallowed  it,  and  the  doctor  asked :  "  Why,  gen 
eral,  is  not  the  brandy  good?  It  is  some  that  we  have 
recently  captured,  and  1  think  it  very  fine."  "  Oh,  yes ! " 
was  the  reply,  "  it  is  very  good  brandy.  I  like  liquor — its 
taste  and  its  effects — and  that  is  just  tJie  reason  why  I  never 
drink  it"  Upon  another  occasion,  after  a  long  ride  in  a 
drenching  rain,  a  brother  officer  insisted  upon  Jackson's 
taking  a  drink  with  him,  but  he  firmly  replied :  "  No,  sir, 
I  cannot  do  it.  I  tell  you  I  am  more  afraid  of  King  Al 
cohol  than  of  all  the  lullets  of  the  enemy" 

The  young  men  of  the  country  who  think  that  it  is  manly 
to  drink,  and  cowardly  to  refuse,  would  do  well  to  study  and 
imitate  the  example  of  these  two  great  men. 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  of  the  famous  dinner  of 
sweet-potatoes  to  which  Marion,  the  American  partisan,  in 
vited  the  British  officer.  General  Lee  considered  himself 
fortunate  when  he  had  a  good  supply  of  sweet-potatoes  or  a 
jug  of  buttermilk. 

General  Ewell  told  the  writer,  not  long  before  his  death, 
that  "  being  at  General  Lee's  headquarters  before  the  evacu 
ation  of  Petersburg,  and  being  unable  to  remain  to  dinner, 
the  general  insisted  upon  his  taking  his  lunch,  which  he 
found  to  be  two  cold  sweet-potatoes,  of  which  he  said  he  was 
very  fond." 

Upon  another  occasion  General  Lee  proposed  to  "  treat " 
some  of  his  officers,  remarking,  "I  have  just  received  a 
demijohn  which  I  know  is  of  the  lest"  The  demijohn, 
tightly  corked,  was  produced,  drinking-vessels  were  brought 
out,  and  all  gathered  around  in  eager  expectancy,  when  the 
general  filled  the  glasses  and  cups  to  the  brim — not  with  old 


J72  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  Cognac  "  or  "  Bourbon  " — but  with  fresh  buttermilk,  which 
a  kind  lady,  knowing  his  taste,  had  sent  him.  He  seemed 
to  enjoy  greatly  the  evident  disappointment  of  some  of  the 
company  when  they  ascertained  the  true  character  of  their 
"  treat." 

Luxuries  which  friends  sent  for  his  mess-table  went  regu 
larly  to  the  sick  and  wounded  in  the  hospitals,  and  he  was 
accustomed  to  say,  "  I  am  content  to  share  the  rations  of  my 
men." 

As  showing  the  impression  which  Lee's  mode  of  living 
made  upon  a  disinterested  foreigner,  we  give  an  extract  from 
an  account  of  a  visit  to  his  headquarters  in  the  autumn  of 
1862,  written  by  an  English  officer  : 

"  In  visiting  the  headquarters  of  the  Confederate  gen 
erals,  but  particularly  those  of  General  Lee,  any  one  accus 
tomed  to  see  European  armies  in  the  field  cannot  fail  to  be 
struck  with  the  great  absence  of  all  the  i  pomp  and  circum 
stance  of  war  '  in  and  around  their  encampments.  Lee's  head 
quarters  consisted  of  about  seven  or  eight  pole-tents,  pitched 
with  their  backs  to  a  stake-fence,  upon  a  piece  of  ground  so 
rocky  that  it  was  unpleasant  to  ride  over  it,  its  only  recom 
mendation  being  a  little  stream  of  good  water  which  flowed 
close  by  the  general's  tent.  In  front  of  the  tents  were  some 
three  four-wheeled  wagons,  drawn  up  without  any  regularity, 
and  a  number  of  horses  roamed  loose  about  the  field.  The 
servants,  who  were  of  course  slaves,  and  the  mounted  sol 
diers,  called  <  couriers,'  who  always  accompany  each  general 
of  division  in  the  field,  were  unprovided  with  tents,  and  slept 
in  or  under  the  wagons.  Wagons,  tents,  and  some  of  the 
horses,  were  marked  '  U.  S.,'  showing  that  part  of  that  huge 
debt  in  the  North  has  gone  to  furnishing  even  the  Confed 
erate  generals  with  camp-equipments.  No  guard  or  sentries 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  vicinity :  no  crowd  of  aides-de-camp 
loitering  about,  making  themselves  agreeable  to  visitors,  and 
endeavoring  to  save  their  general  from  receiving  those  whc 
have  no  particular  business.  A  large  f arm-house  stands  close 


HIS  SELF-DENIAL  FOR  THE   GOOD   OF   OTHERS.  173 

by,  which,  in  any  other  army,  would  have  been  the  general's 
residence,  pro  tern. ;  but,  as  no  liberties  are  allowed  to  be 
taken  with  personal  property  in  Lee's  army,  he  is  particular 
in  setting  a  good  example  himself.  His  staff  are  crowded 
together,  two  or  three  in  a  tent ;  none  are  allowed  to  carry 
more  baggage  than  a  small  box  each,  and  his  own  kit  is  but 
very  little  larger.  Every  one  who  approaches  him  does  so 
with  marked  respect,  although  there  is  none  of  that  bowing 
and  flourishing  of  forage-caps  which  occurs  in  the  presence 
of  European  generals ;  and,  while  all  honor  him  and  place 
implicit  faith  in  his  courage  and  ability,  those  with  whom  he 
is  most  intimate  feel  for  him  the  affection  of  sons  to  a  father." 

He  always  manifested  the  liveliest  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  his  men,  and  was  deeply  touched  by  their  hardships  and 
privations.  Being  invited  upon  one  occasion  to  dine  at  a 
house  where  an  elegant  dinner  was  served,  it  is  related  that 
he  declined  all  of  the  rich  viands  offered  him,  dined  on  bread 
and  beef,  and  quietly  said  in  explanation  to  the  lady  of  the 
house,  "  I  cannot  consent  to  be  feasting  while  my  poor  sol 
diers  are  nearly  starving." 

In  the  same  spirit  he  wrote  to  some  young  officers  who 
were  getting  up  a  grand  military  ball :  "  I  do  not  think  this 
a  fit  time  for  feasting  or  unseemly  merry-making.  I  am  al 
ways  gratified  to  see  your  names  figure  among  the  gallant 
defenders  of  the  country.  I  confess  that  I  have  no  desire 
just  now  to  see  them  conspicuous  among  the  promoters  of  a 
4  Grand  Military  Ball,'  or  any  thing  of  that  character." 

In  November,  1863,  the  City  Council  of  Kichmond  passed 
a  resolution  to  purchase  for  him  an  elegant  mansion,  as  a 
small  token  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 
city  which  he  had  so  long  defended.  "  Arlington  "  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  United  States  Government,  the  "  White  House  " 
on  York  River  (the  house  of  Washington's  early  wedded  life) 
had  been  ruthlessly  burned  by  Federal  soldiers,  his  splendid 
estate  had  nearly  all  passed  from  his  control,  and  his  salary, 
in  Confederate  scrip,  was  utterly  inadequate  to  support  in 


174  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

proper  style  his  invalid  wife  and  accomplished  daughters. 
These  facts  were  known  to  the  city  authorities,  and  they  but 
reflected  the  popular  wish  in  the  action  which  they  took. 

But,  when  General  Lee  heard  of  it,  he  wrote  as  follows 
to  the  president  of  the  Council : 

"  I  assure  you,  sir,  that  no  want  of  appreciation  of  the 
honor  conferred  upon  me  by  this  resolution,  or  insensibility 
to  the  kind  feelings  which  prompted  it,  induces  me  to  ask, 
as  I  most  respectfully  do,  that  no  further  proceedings  be 
taken  with  reference  to  the  subject.  The  house  is  not  neces 
sary  to  the'  use  of  my  family,  and  my  own  duties  will  pre 
vent  my  residence  in  Richmond. 

"  I  should,  therefore,  be  compelled  to  decline  the  gener 
ous  offer,  and  I  trust  that  whatever  means  the  City  Council 
may  have  to  spare  for  this  purpose  may  be  devoted  to  the 
relief  of  the  families  of  our  soldiers  in  the  field,  who  are 
more  in  want  of  assistance,  and  more  deserving  of  it,  than 
myself." 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  offers  of  pecuniary  assistance 
poured  in  upon  him  from  all  quarters,  but  he  steadfastly  re 
fused  to  receive  them.  An  English  nobleman,  thinking  that 
he  would  rejoice  in  some  place  of  retreat,  wrote  to  offer  him 
a  splendid  country-seat  and  a  handsome  annuity.  He  re 
plied  :  "  I  am  deeply  grateful,  but  I  cannot  consent  to  desert 
my  native  State  in  the  hour  of  her  adversity.  I  must  abide 
her  fortunes  and  share  her  fate." 

Soon  after  he  went  to  Lexington,  he  was  visited  by  an 
agent  of  a  certain  insurance  company,  who  offered  him  their 
presidency,  at  a  salary  of  ten  thousand  dollars  per  annum ;  he 
was  then  receiving  only  three  thousand  from  the  college. 

He  told  the  agent  that  he  could  not  give  up  the  position 
he  then  held,  and  could  not  properly  attend  to  the  duties  of 
both. 

"  But,  general,"  said  the  agent,  "  we  do  not  want  you  to 
discharge  any  duties.  "We  simply  wish  the  use  of  your 
name ;  that  will  abundantly  compensate  us." 


HIS  SELF-DEXIAL  FOR  THE   GOOD   OF   OTHERS.  175 

"  Excuse  me,  sir,"  was  the  prompt  and  decided  rejoinder ;  "  I 
cannot  consent  to  receive  pay  for  services  I  do  not  render." 

His  letter-book  is  full  of  responses  to  letters  offering  him 
direct  assistance,  or  positions  where  he  could  realize  large 
pecuniary  returns.  A  few  of  these  will  serve  as  specimens 
of  the  whole : 

"  WHITS  SULPHUR  SPRINGS,  W.  YA.,  Augmt  26,  1869. 

"Mr.  R.  W . 

"MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  received,  this  mail,  your  letter  of  the 
19th  inst. ;  and  though  truly  sensible  of  your  kindness,  and  high 
ly  appreciating  the  feelings  which  prompted  your  offer,  I  am 
compelled  most  reluctantly  to  decline  it.  I  will  retain  your 
letter  as  a  mark  of  your  esteem,  and  the  most  pleasing  evidence 
of  your  regard ;  and  though  my  losses  by  the  war  have  been 
heavy,  as  you  state,  they  are  light  in  comparison  to  other  things 
all  have  to  bear,  and  are  not  worth  consideration.  Thanking 
you  most  sincerely  for  your  generous  purpose, 

"  I  am  most  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  YA.,  May  21,  1866. 

"  Mr.  IT.  R ,  Salem,  Franklin  County,  Tenn. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  12th  inst., 
and  thank  you  most  cordially  for  your  kind  proposition.  I  shall 
be  unable  to  take  any  part  in  the  conduct  of  the  business  in 
which  you  propose  to  engage,  or  to  render  any  adequate  service 
in  return  for  the  benefits  I  might  receive.  With  a  due  sense, 
therefore,  of  your  generous  offer,  and  a  grateful  appreciation  of 
the  motives  which  induced  it,  I  am  constrained  to  decline  it. 

"  Wishing  you  every  success  in  the  prosecution  of  your  pur 
pose,  and  all  happiness  in  its  accomplishment, 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  «  R  E.  LEE." 

The  following  reply  to  an  earnest  call  made  upon  him  by 
old  friends  speaks  for  itself : 

44  LEXINGTON,  YA.,  March  18,  1870. 

"  General  CORSE,  FRAXCIS  L.  SMITH,  R.  II.  MILLER,  C.  S.  LEE,  ) 
EDGAR  SNOWDEN-,  etc.,  Alexandria,  Va.  \ 

"GENTLEMEN:  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  kind  feelings 
which  prompted  your  communication  of  the  12th  inst. ;  any 


176  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

proposition  emanating  from  the  citizens  of  Alexandria  would 
command  my  earnest  consideration,  but  one  fraught  with  so  much 
interest  to  the  city,  and  filled  with  such  considerate  kindness  to 
myself,  demands  my  serious  attention  and  frank  reply.  There 
is  no  community  to  which  my  affections  more  strongly  cling 
than  that  of  Alexandria,  composed  of  my  earliest  and  oldest 
friends,  my  kind  school-fellows,  and  faithful  neighbors.  Its  in 
terests  and  prosperity  are  of  such  paramount  importance  to  me 
that  it  is  my  desire  to  do  any  thing  to  promote  them.  It  is  on 
this  account  that  I  must  decline  the  proposition  you  have  made 
me.  I  do  not  feel  able  to  undertake  the  business  you  would 
assign  me,  and  it  would  not  be  honest  in  me  to  accept  it.  My 
health  has  been  so  feeble  this  winter  that  I  am  only  waiting  to 
see  the  effect  of  the  opening  spring  before  relinquishing  my 
present  position.  I  am  admonished  by  my  feelings  that  my 
years  of  labor  are  nearly  over,  and  my  inclinations  point  to 
private  life.  You  require  the  energy  of  a  younger  man  to  push 
forward  your  communications  with  the  interior  of  the  country, 
to  economize  the  construction  and  working  of  your  roads,  and  to 
afford  cheap  transportation  for  the  products  of  agriculture  to 
your  port,  and  the  articles  of  commerce  in  return  to  the  interior. 
Without  knowing  more  than  any  other  deeply  interested  in  the 
welfare  of  your  city,  the  president  of  your  roads  seems  to  me  to 
have  been  earnest  and  indefatigable  in  their  advancement,  and  I 
would  recommend  him  for  the  office  rather  than  myself. 

"  With  my  earnest  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  Alexandria, 
and  the  individual  happiness  of  you  all, 

"  I  am,  with  great  regard,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R,  E.LEE." 

Nearly  every  mail  brought  him  some  such  proposition, 
and  just  a  short  time  before  his  death  a  large  and  wealthy 
corporation  in  the  city  of  JSTew  York  offered  him  a  salary  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars  per  annum  if  he  would  consent  to  be 
come  their  president. 

But  he  steadfastly  refused  all  such  offers,  and  quietly  pur 
sued  his  chosen  path  of  duty. 

'He  did  accept,  not  long  before  his  death,  the  presidency 


HIS  SELF-DENIAL  FOR  THE   GOOD   OF   OTHERS.  177 

of  the  Yalley  Eailroad  Company  ;  but  in  this  he  yielded  his 
personal  wishes  to  the  views  of  the  wannest  friends  of  the 
college,  who  urged  that  his  acceptance  of  the  position  was 
necessary  to  the  construction  of  the  road,  and  that  this  was 
essential  to  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  Yalley, 
and  the  highest  prosperity  of  Lexington  and  of  the  college 
itself. 

When  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Washington  College 
called  General  Lee  to  its  presidency,  they  were  anxious  to 
fulfill  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  the  Southern  public  by 
paying  such  salary  as  his  wide  reputation  and  invaluable  ser 
vices  wrere  entitled  to  receive.  This  feeling  increased  as  they 
saw  the  college  expand  under  his  magic  touch,  until,  from  an 
institution  with  five  professors  and  some  sixty  students,  it 
numbered  more  than  twenty  instructors  and  over  four  hun 
dred  students.  But  they  always  found  an  insurmountable 
difficulty  in  the  steadfast  refusal  of  General  Lee  to  receive  a 
salary  beyond  what  he  conceived  the  funds  of  the  institution 
and  fairness  to  the  other  members  of  the  Faculty  would 
justify.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Faculty  united  with  the 
trustees  in  urging  that  the  prosperity  of  the  college  was  due 
to  his  influence ;  that  his  name  had  secured  the  endowment 
whereby  the  additional  professors  were  appointed,  and  had 
attracted  young  men  from  every  State ;  that  they  were  offer 
ing  him  no  gratuity,  but  simply  a  compensation  for  his  in 
valuable  services.  His  firm  reply  was,  "  My  salary  is  as  large 
as  the  college  ought  to  pay." 

The  trustees  were  anxious  to  have  built  for  him  a  hand 
some  residence,  and  friends  in  different  sections  contributed 
funds  for  the  vpurpose,  but  he  insisted  that  other  buildings 
were  needed  far  more  than  a  new  house  for  himself.  The 
trustees  finally  made  the  appropriation  without  his  knowl 
edge,  and  he  then  superintended  the  building  himself,  re 
duced  its  cost  considerably  below  the  amount  appropriated, 
and  was  very  careful  always  to  speak  of  it  not  as  his  own  (as 
the  trustees  meant  it  to  be),  but  as  a  the  president's  house." 
12 


178  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

In  the  spring  of  1870  the  Board  of  Trustees  delicately 
deeded  to  Mrs.  Lee  this  house,  and  settled  on  her  an  annuity 
of  three  thousand  dollars.  When  the  general  heard  of  it,  he 
wrote,  in  Mrs.  Lee's  behalf,  a  polite  but  firm  letter,  declining 
the  offer. 

The  trustees  still  delicately  adhered  to  their  purpose,  had 
the  deed  quietly  recorded,  and  after  General  Lee's  death  sent 
Mrs.  Lee  a  check  for  the  annuity.  But  this  noble  Virginia 
matron  had  caught  the  spirit  of  her  husband,  and  returned 
the  check  with  a  beautiful  letter  declining  to  allow  any  of 
the  funds  of  the  college  to  be  diverted  to  her  private  use,  or 
to  receive  for  her  family  any  part  of  the  property  of  the  insti 
tution. 

Certain  wealthy  friends  and  admirers  of  General  Lee  one 
summer,  at  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  put  on  foot  a  scheme 
to  raise  fifty  thousand  dollars  which  they  designed  to  be  used 
by  the  college  for  his  benefit  during  his  life,  and  to  revert  to 
his  family  at  his  death.  He  declined  to  allow  this  fund  to  be 
raised,  except  on  the  condition  that,  instead  of  going  to  the 
benefit  of  his  family,  it  should  be  a  permanent  endowment 
of  the  president's  chair  of  the  college. 

An  agent  of  the  college  had  been,  without  authority, 
making  very  free  use  of  General  Lee's  name  in  his  efforts  to 
secure  contributions ;  and,  when  the  general  heard  of  it,  he 
promptly  wrote  the  following  protest : 

"  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  LEXINGTON,  YA.,  March  1,  1866. 
"  Hon.  Jonsr  W.  BROCKENBROUGH,  Rector,  ) 

Washington  College,  Lexington,  Va.       ) 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  My  attention  has  been  called  to  the  inclosed 
slip,  which  seems  to  have  been  taken  from  a  Memphis  paper.  I 

do  not  know  what  instructions  the  Rev.  Mr. received  from 

the  Board  of  Trustees  ;  but  he  certainly  had  no  authority  from 
me  to  use  my  name  in  soliciting  contributions  to  the  college 
with  a  view  of  increasing  my  salary.  If  such  is  the  '  main  ob 
ject 'of  his  mission,  as  stated,  he  cannot  hope  to  succeed  ;  and  I 
should  regret  if  any  friend  of  mine  gave  a  dollar  for  the  purpose. 


EIS   SELF-DEXIAL  FOR  THE   GOOD   OF   OTHERS.          179 

"  It  is  difficult  to  know  to  what  extent  Mr. is  responsible 

for  the  statement ;  but  it  is  calculated  to  injure  the  college,  and 
I  request  that  the  committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  will  take 
measures  to  prevent  my  being  presented  to  the  country  in  so 
reprehensible  a  manner. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  indorsement  upon  a  letter  from  Rev.  S. 
D.  Stuart  to  the  rector  of  the  college  will  further  illustrate 
the  feelings  of  this  noble  man  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  23,  1866. 

"  The  letter  of  the  Rev.  S.  D.  Stuart,  of  the  15th  inst.,  is  re 
spectfully  returned  to  Judge  John  W.  Brockenbrough. 

"  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  my  obligations  to  the  Hon.  B. 
Wood  for  his  good  opinion,  his  interest  in  the  South,  and  for 
the  repetition  of  his  conditional  offer  of  aid  to  Washington  Col 
lege.  Upon  giving  the  subject  additional  reflection,  I  cannot 
reach  the  conclusion  that  any  acceptance  of  his  proposition 
would  be  beneficial.  The  college  would  gain  the  sum  of  money 
he  generously  proposes  to  give,  but  it  would  lose  a  great  amount 
in  other  respects.  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  make  it  proper  for 
me  to  take  a  public  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  country. 

"  I  have  done,  and  continue  to  do,  in  my  private  capacity, 
all  in  my  power  to  encourage  our  people  to  set  manfully  to  work 
to  restore  the  country,  to  rebuild  their  homes  and  churches,  to 
educate  their  children,  and  to  remain  with  their  States,  their 
friends  and  countrymen.  But,  as  a  prisoner  on  parole,  I  cannot 
with  propriety  do  more ;  nor  do  I  believe  it  would  be  advanta 
geous  for  me  to  do  so. 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  refusal  of  General  Lee  to  receive  presents  or  gratui 
ties  was  but  one  of  the  many  points  in  which  he  resembled 
George  Washington,  "  the  Father  of  his  Country."  How 
far  he  differed  from  many  of  our  leading  public  men  of  the 
present  day,  in  this  respect,  we  will  not  here  discuss. 


180  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Up  to  his  fatal  illness,  General  Lee  was  busily  engaged  in 
collecting  material,  and  seemed  very  anxious  to  write  a  his 
tory  of  his  campaigns ;  but  his  object  was  to  vindicate  others 
rather  than  himself.  He  said  to  one  of  his  generals,  in  a 
letter  asking  for  his  official  reports :  "  I  shall  write  this  his 
tory,  not  to  vindicate  myself,  or  to  promote  my  own  reputa 
tion.  I  want  that  the  world  shall  know  what  my  poor  boys, 
with  their  small  numbers  and  scant  resources,  succeeded  in 
accomplishing." 

He  sent  out  to  many  of  his  old  officers  the  following  cir 
cular  : 

"  NEAR  CARTERSVILLE,  CUMBERLAND  COUNTY,  VA.,  July  31,  1865. 
"  GENERAL  :  I  am  desirous  that  the  bravery  and  devotion 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  be  correctly  transmitted  to 
posterity.  This  is  the  only  tribute  that  can  now  be  paid  to  the 
worth  of  its  noble  officers  and  soldiers.  And  I  am  anxious  to 
collect  the  necessary  information  for  the  history  of  its  cam 
paigns,  including  the  operations  in  the  Valley  and  Western  Vir 
ginia,  from  its  organization  to  its  final  surrender.  I  have  copies 
of  my  reports  of  the  battles,  commencing  with  those  around 
Richmond  in  1862,  to  the  end  of  the  Pennsylvania  campaign  ; 
but  no  report  of  the  campaign  in  1864,  and  of  the  operations  of 
the  winter  of  1864-'65,  to  the  1st  of  April,  1865,  has  been  writ 
ten  ;  and  the  corps  and  division  reports  of  that  period  which  had 
been  sent  to  headquarters  before  the  abandonment  of  the  lines 
before  Petersburg,  with  all  the  records,  returns,  maps,  plans, 
etc.,  were  destroyed  the  day  before  the  army  reached  Appomat- 
tox  Court-House.  My  letter-books,  public  and  confidential,  were 
also  destroyed,  and  the  regular  reports  and  returns  transmitted 
to  the  adjutant-general  at  Richmond  have  been  burned  or  lost. 
Should  you  have  copies  of  the  reports  of  the  operations  of  your 
command  within  the  period  specified  (from  May  1,  1864,  to 
April  1,  1865),  or  should  you  be  able  to  renew  them,  I  will 
be  greatly  obliged  to  you  to  send  them  to  me.  Should  you 
be  able  to  procure  other  reports  of  other  commands,  returns 
of  the  effective  strength  of  the  army  of  any  of  the  battles  from 
the  first  Manassas  to  the  1st  of  April,  1865,  or  copies  of  irn; 


I 

HIS  SELF-DENIAL  FOR  THE   GOOD   OF   OTHERS.  181 

official  orders,  letters,  etc.,  you  will  confer  an  additional  favor  by 
sending  them  to  me.          Very  respectfully  and  truly, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

To  his  trusted  lieutenant,  General  J.  A.  Early,  who  was 
at  this  time  in  voluntary  exile,  he  wrote  the  following  letter : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  November  22,  1865. 
"  General  J.  A.  EARLY. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  I  received  last  night  your  letter  of  the 
30th  ult.,  which  gave  rne  the  first  authentic  information  of  you 
since  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  relieved  the  anxiety  I  had 
felt  on  your  account.  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  of  your  health 
and  safety,  but  regret  your  absence  from  the  country,  though  I 
fully  understand  your  feelings  on  the  subject.  I  think  the  South 
requires  the  presence  of  her  sons  more  now  than  at  any  period 
of  her  history,  and  I  determined  at  the  outset  of  her  difficulties 
to  share  the  fate  of  my  people. 

"  I  wish  you  every  happiness  and  prosperity  wherever  you 
may  go,  and  in  compliance  with  your  request  inclose  a  state 
ment  of  your  services,  which  I  hope  may  answer  your  purpose. 
You  will  always  be  present  to  my  recollections. 

"  I  desire,  if  not  prevented,  to  write  a  history  of  the  cam 
paigns  in  Virginia.  All  my  records,  books,  orders,  etc.,  were 
destroyed  in  the  conflagration  and  retreat  from  Richmond. 
Only  such  of  my  reports  as  were  printed  are  preserved. 

"Your  reports  of  your  operations  in  1864  and  '65  were 
among  those  destroyed. 

"  Cannot  you  repeat  them,  and  send  me  copies  of  such  letters, 
orders,  etc.,  of  mine  (including  that  last  letter  to  which  you 
refer),  and  particularly  give  me  your  recollection  of  our  effective 
strength  at  the  principal  battles  ? 

"  My  only  object  is  to  transmit  the  truth,  if  possible,  to  pos 
terity,  and  do  justice  to  our  brave  soldiers. 

"  Most  truly  your  friend, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

lie  delayed  the  fulfillment  of  this  cherished  purpose  be 
cause  he  was  refused  copies  of  his  captured  official  papers 


i#J  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

which  are  under  charge  of  the  War  Department  in  Washing 
ton,  and  was  unwilling  to  write  his  history  without  these. 

But  he  would  sometimes  make  it  an  objection  to  writing 
at  all,  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  relate  facts  which  would 
cause  the  conduct  of  others  to  be  subjected  to  criticism  and 
censure.  "No  man  was  ever  more  careful  of  the  feelings  or 
reputation  of  others,  or  more  ready  to  submit  quietly  to 
wrong  himself  rather  than  have  censure  cast  upon  his  com 
rades  or  subordinates. 

General  Lee  had  nothing  of  nepotism  about  him,  but 
meted  out  the  evenest  justice  to  all,  except  that  he  did  not 
promote  his  relatives  as  rapidly  as  he  did  others. 

His  sou  Robert  served  as  a  private  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Rockbridge  Artillery,  sharing  with  his  comrades  of  that  crack 
corps  all  of  their  dangers,  hardships,  drudgery,  and  priva 
tions,  when  a  hint  from  his  father  would  have  secured  him 
promotion  to  some  place  of  honor.  The  general  told,  with 
evident  relish,  that  during  the  battle  of  Sharpsburghe  became 
very  uneasy  about  Robert — knowing  that  his  battery  had 
suffered  severely,  and  not  hearing  any  thing  from  him.  At 
last  he  made  it  convenient  to  ride  up  to  the  battery,  which  had 
just  been  relieved  from  a  very  perilous  position  where  it  had 
suffered  fearful  loss,  and  had  his  fears  increased  by  not  rec- 
ogizing  his  son  among  the  men.  To  the  hearty  greeting  of 
the  brave  fellows  he  replied,  "  Well !  you  have  done  nobly 
to-day,  but  I  shall  be  compelled  to  send  you  in  again." 

"Will  you,  general?"  said  a  powder-begrimed  youth 
whom  he  did  not  recognize,  until  he  spoke,  as  his  son  Robert. 
"  Well,  boys !  come  on  ;  the  general  says  we  must  go  in 
again,  and  you  know  he  is  in  the  habit  of  having  his  own 
way  about  such  matters." 

Thus  the  anxiety  of  the  commander-in-chief  was  relieved, 
and  his  son  went  gayly  to  work  at  his -gun  and  contribute 
his  full  share  toward  "  keeping  those  people  back." 

I  have  the  following  from  the  lips  of  the  distinguished 
officer  who  related  it : 


HIS   SELF-DENIAL  FOR  THE  'GOOD   OF  OTHERS.  183 

When  General was  compelled  by  failing  health  to 

ask  to  be  relieved  from  a  certain  important  command,  he 
went  to  Eichmond  to  confer  with  President  Davis  as  to  his 
successor,  and  to  endeavor  to  impress  upon  him  the  very 
great  importance  of  the  district,  and  of  the  commander  being 
a  man  of  fine  abilities.  Mr.  Davis  fully  sympathized  with 
his  views,  and,  after  reflection,  said :  "  I  know  of  no  better 
man  for  that  position  than  General  Custis  Lee.  To  show  you 
my  estimate  of  his  ability,  I  will  say  that,  when  some  time 
ago  I  thought  of  sending  General  Robert  Lee  to  command  the 
Western  Army,  I  had  determined  that  his  son  Custis  should 
succeed  him  in  command  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia.  Now,  I  wish  you  to  go  up  and  see  General  Lee,  tell 
him  what  I  say,  and  ask  him  to  order  General  Custis  Lee  to 
the  command  of  that  department.  Tell  him  I  will  make  his 
son  major-general,  lieutenant-general,  or,  if  need  be,  full  gen 
eral,  so  that  he  may  rank  any  officer  likely  to  be  sent  to  that 
department." 

General  -  -  promptly  sought  Lee's  headquarters,  deliv 
ered  Mr.  Davis' s  message,  and  urged  a  compliance. 

But  to  all  of  his  arguments  and  entreaties  the  old  chief 
tain  had  but  one  reply :  "  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  Mr. 
Davis  for  his  high  opinion  of  Custis  Lee.  I  hope  that,  if  he 
had  the  opportunity,  he  would  prove  himself  in  some  meas 
ure  worthy  of  that  confidence.  But  he  is  an  untried  man 
in  the  field,  and  I  cannot  appoint  him  to  that  command. 
Very  much  against  his  wishes  and  my  own,  Mr.  Davis  has 
kept  him  on  his  personal  staff,  and  he  has  had  no  oppor 
tunity  to  prove  his  ability  to  handle  an  army  in  the  field 
Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  of  others,  I  cannot  pass  bj 
my  tried  officers  and  take  for  that  important  position  a  com 
paratively  new  man — especially  when  that  man  is  my  own 
son.  Mr.  Davis  can  make  the  assignment  if  he  thinks  prop 
er — I  shall  certainly  not  do  so." 

The  records  of  the  Confederate  War  Department  would 
be  searched  in  vain  for  any  word  of  General  Lee  seeking 
place  either  for  himself  or  his  sons. 


184  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

Kev.  Dr.  T.  Y.  Moore,  so  long  pastor  of  the  First  Pres 
byterian  Church  in  Richmond,  and  who  recently  died  in  Nash 
ville,  Tenn.,  related  the  following  in  his  memorial  sermon : 

"  After  the  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  during 
the  war  was  suspended,  one  of  his  own  sons  was  taken  prison 
er.  A  Federal  officer  of  the  same  rank  in  Libby  Prison  sent 
"  for  me,  and  wished  me  to  write  to  General  Lee,  begging 
him  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Confederate  authorities  to 
his  release,  provided  he  could,  as  he  felt  sure  would  be  the 
case,  induce  the  United  States  authorities  to  send  General 
Lee's  son  through  the  lines  to  effect  this  special  exchange. 

"  In  a  few  days  a  reply  was  received  in  which,  with  the 
lofty  spirit  of  a  Roman  Brutus,  he  respectfully  but  firmly  de 
clined  to  ask  any  favor  for  his  own  son  that  could  not  le 
asked  for  ike  humblest  soldier  in  the  army.  The  officer, 
while  disappointed,  was  yet  so  struck  with  the  unselfish 
nobleness  of  the  reply,  that  he  begged  the  letter  from  me  as  a 
memento  of  General  Lee,  adding,  with  deep  emphasis,  i  Sir, 
I  regard  him  as  the  greatest  man  now  living.'  " 

It  will  add  greatly  to  the  force  of  the  above  incident 
to  recall  the  fact  that  the  son  (General  "W.  H.  F.  Lee)  was  at 
home,  severely  wounded,  at  the  time  he  was  captured ;  that 
his  accomplished  wife  was  lying  at  the  point  of  death,  and  act 
ually  died  before  his  release  (the  Federal  authorities  refusing 
to  allow  General  Custis  Lee  to  take  the  place  of  his  brother, 
as  he  nobly  offered  to  do)  and  that  he  was  closely  confined  in  a 
casemate  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  threatened  with  death  by 
hanging,  in  retaliation  for  alleged  cruelty  on  the  part  of  the 
Confederate  authorities  toward  certain  Federal  prisoners. 

Only  those  who  know  how  devoted  to  his  children  Gen 
eralLee  was  can  appreciate  the  noble  self-denial  which  he 
exercised  when,  under  these  circumstances,  the  tenderest  feel 
ings  of  the  loving  father  were  sacrificed  to  his  sense  of  duty 
to  his  country. 

Not  long  after  his  West  Virginia  campaign,  he  was  rec 
ommending  a  certain  officer  for  promotion,  when  a  friend 


HIS   SELF-DENIAL  FOR  THE   GOOD   OF   OTHERS.  185 

urged  him  not  to  do  so,  alleging  that  this  officer  was  accus 
tomed  to  speak  very  disparagingly  and  disrespectfully  of  Gen 
eral  Lee.  The  quick  reply  was,  "  The  question  is  not  what  he 
thinks  or  is  pleased  to  say  about  me,  but  what  I  think  of 
him.  I  have  a  high  opinion  of  this  officer  as  a  soldier,  and 
shall  most  unquestionably  recommend  his  promotion,  and  do 
all  in  my  power  to  secure  it." 

Surely  the  pages  of  the  world's  history  afford  no  nobler 
example  of  self-denial  for  the  good  of  others  than  that  of  the 
modest,  unobtrusive  life  of  the  Christian  soldier  and  patriot 
— E.  E.  LEE. 


CHAPTEK  VI. 

HIS   WANT   OF   BITTERNESS   TOWARD   THE    NORTH,    BUT   DEVOTION 
TO   THE   INTERESTS    OF   THE    SOUTH. 

GENERAL  LEE  was  conspicuous  for  a  want  of  bitterness 
toward  the  United  States  authorities  and  the  people  of  the 
North,  lie  certainly  had  much  which  others  would  have 
taken  as  an  occasion  of  bitterness,  if  not  absolute  hatred. 
While  he  was  suffering  privation  and  hardship,  and  meeting 
danger  in  opposing  what  he  honestly  believed  to  be  the 
armed  hosts  of  oppression  and  wrong,  his  home  was  seized 
(and  held)  by  the  Government,  and  his  property  destroyed. 
When  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  faithfully  and  scrupulously 
sought  to  carry  out  his  parole,  avoided  the  popular  applause 
that  his  people  were  everywhere  ready  to  give  him,  and 
sought  a  quiet  retreat  where  he  could  labor  for  the  good  of 
the  young  men  of  the  South,  his  motives  were  impugned,  his 
actions  were  misrepresented,  and  certain  of  the  Northern 
journals  teemed  with  bitter  slanders  against  him,  while  a 
United  States  grand-jury  (in  violation  of  the  terms  of  his 
parole,  as  General  Grant  himself  maintained)  found  against 
him  an  indictment  for  "treason  and  rebellion."  And  yet 
amid  all  these  provocations  he  uttered  no  word  of  bitterness, 
and  always  raised  his  voice  for  moderation  and  charity. 

Upon  several  occasions,  the  writer  has  heard  him  rebuke 
others  for  bitter  expressions,  and  the  severest  terms  he  was 
accustomed  to  employ  were  such  as  he  used  to  his  son  Rol> 


WANT  OF  BITTERNESS  TO   THE  NORTH.  187 

ert,  to  whom  he  said  one  day,  as  he  was  bravely  working  one 
of  the  guns  of  the  Eockbridge  Artillery  which  was  engaged 
in  a  fierce  fight  with  the  enemy:  "That's  right,  my  son; 
drive  those  people  back." 

When  told  of  Jackson's  wound,  and  of  his  plan  to  cut 
Hooker  off  from  the  United  States  ford,  and  drive  back  his 
army  on  Chancellorsville,  the  eye  of  the  great  captain 
sparkled,  and  his  face  flushed  as  he  remembered  that  in  the 
loss  of  his  lieutenant  he  had  been  "deprived  of  his  right 
arm ; "  but  his  quiet  reply  was,  "  General  Jackson's  plans 
shall  be  carried  out — those  people  shall  be  driven  to-day." 

He  used  sometimes  to  speak  of  the  enemy  as  "  General 
Meade's  people,"  "  General  Grant's  people,"  or  "  our  friends 
across  the  river." 

When  in  1863  the  head  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  was  turned  northward,  and  it  was  understood  that  an 
invasion  of  Pennsylvania  was  contemplated,  there  resounded 
through  the  South  a  cry  for  retaliation  there  for  the  desola 
tion  inflicted  by  the  Federal  armies  upon  our  own  fair  land. 
The  newspapers  recounted  the  outrages  that  we  had  endured, 
painted  in  vivid  colors  the  devastation  of  large  sections  of 
the  South,  reprinted  the  orders  of  Pope,  Butler,  and  others 
of  like  spirit,  and  called  upon  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  to  remember  these  things  when 
they  reached  the  rich  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  arguing  that 
the  best  way  of  bringing  the  war  to  a  successful  termination 
was  to  let  the  people  of  the  North  feel  it  as  we  had  done. 
Prominent  men  urged  these  views  on  General  Lee,  and  it 
would  not  have  been  surprising  if  he  had  so  far  yielded  to 
the  popular  clamor  as  to  have  at  least  winked  at  depredations 
on  the  part  of  his  soldiers.  But  he  did  not  for  a  single 
moment  forget  that  he  led  the  army  of  a  people  who  pro 
fessed  to  be  governed  by  the  principles  of  Christian  civiliza 
tion,  and  that  no  outrages  on  the  part  of  others  could  justify 
him  in  departing  from  these  high  principles.  Accordingly, 
as  soon  as  the  head  of  his  column  crossed  the  Potomac,  he 


1S8  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

issued  a  beautiful  address,  in  which  he  called  upon  his  men 
to  abstain  from  pillage  and  depredations  of  every  kind,  and 
enjoined  upon  his  officers  to  bring  to  speedy  punishment  all 
offenders  against  this  order.  If  this  had  been  intended  for 
effect  merely,  while  the  soldiers  were  to  be  allowed  to  plunder 
at  will,  nothing  further  would  have  been  necessary.  But  we 
iind  him  publishing  the  following,  which  "forms  one  of  the 
brightest  pages  in  the  history  of  that  unhappy  strife,  will  go 
down  to  coming  ages  in  vivid  contrast  with  the  orders  of 
Pope,  Butler,  Sheridan,  and  other  Federal  generals,  and  will 
for  all  time  reflect  the  highest  honor  alike  upon  our  Chris 
tian  chieftain  and  the  army  he  led  : 

"  General  Orders  No.  73. 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  } 
CHAMBERSBURG,  PA.,  June  27,  1863.      ) 

"  The  commanding  general  has  observed  with  marked  satis 
faction  the  conduct  of  the  troops  on  the  march,  and  confidently 
anticipates  results  commensurate  with  the  high  spirit  they  have 
manifested.  No  troops  could  have  displayed  greater  fortitude, 
or  better  have  performed  the  arduous  marches  of  the  past  ten 
days.  Their  conduct  in  other  respects  has,  with  few  exceptions, 
been  in  keeping  with  their  character  as  soldiers,  and  entitles 
them  to  approbation  and  praise. 

"  There  have  been,  however,  instances  of  forgetfulness  on 
the  part  of  some  that  they  have  in  keeping  the  yet  unsullied 
reputation  of  the  army,  and  that  the  duties  exacted  of  us  by 
civilization  and  Christianity  are  not  less  obligatory  in  the  country 
of  the  enemy  than  in  our  own.  The  commanding  general  con 
siders  that  no  greater  disgrace  could  befall  the  army,  and 
through  it  our  whole  people,  than  the  perpetration  of  the  bar 
barous  outrages  upon  the  innocent  and  defenseless,  and  the 
wanton  destruction  of  private  property,  that  have  marked  the 
course  of  the  enemy  in  our  own  country.  Such  proceedings  not 
only  disgrace  the  perpetrators  and  all  connected  with  them,  but 
are  subversive  of  the  discipline  and  efficiency  of  the  army,  and 
destructive  of  the  ends  of  our  present  movements.  It  must  be 


WANT   OF  BITTERNESS   TO   THE  NORTH.  189 

remembered  that  we  make  war  only  upon  armed  men,  and  that 
we  cannot  take  vengeance  for  the  wrongs  our  people  have  suf 
fered  without  lowering  ourselves  in  the  eyes  of  all  whose  abhor 
rence  has  been  excited  by  the  atrocities  of  our  enemy  and  of 
fending  against  Him  to  whom  vengeance  belongeth,  and  with 
out  whose  favor  and  support  our  efforts  must  all  prove  in  vain. 

"  The  commanding  general,  therefore,  earnestly  exhorts  the 
troops  to  abstain,  with  most  scrupulous  care,  from  unnecessary 
or  wanton  injury  to  private  property  ;  and  he  enjoins  upon  all 
officers  to  arrest  and  bring  to  summary  punishment  all  who  shall 
in  any  way  offend  against  the  orders  on  this  subject. 

"  R.  E.  LEE,  General." 

That  these  orders  were  in  some  instances  violated  is  not 
denied,  but  both  General  Lee  and  his  officers  exerted  them 
selves  to  have  them  carried  out,  and  with  almost  perfect  suc 
cess,  as  even  the  Northern  press  abundantly  testified  at 
the  time. 

No  blackened  ruins,  desolated  fields,  or  wanton  destruc 
tion  of  private  property,  marked  the  line  of  his  march.  His 
official  dispatches  are  blotted  by  no  wicked  boast  of  the  num 
ber  of  barns  burned,  and  the  amount  of  provisions  destroyed, 
until  he  had  made  the  country  "  such  a  waste  that  even  a 
crow  flying  over  would  be  compelled  to  carry  his  rations !  " 
But  the  order  above  quoted  not  only  expressed  the  feelings 
of  the  commander-in-chief,  but  was  an  index  to  the  conduct 
of  his  officers  and  the  troops  under  their  command. 

"When  General  John  B.  Gordon,  at  the  head  of  his  splen 
did  brigade  of  Georgians,  entered  York,  there  was  great  con 
sternation  among  the  people,  and  he  sought  to  quiet  their 
fears  by  making  the  following  address  to  a  crowd  of  women 
gathered  on  the  street :  "  Our  Southern  homes  have  been 
pillaged,  sacked,  and  burned ;  our  mothers,  wives,  and  little 
ones,  driven  forth  amid  the  brutal  insults  of  your  soldiers. 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  we  fight  with  desperation  ?  A  natural 
revenge  would  prompt  us  to  retaliate  in  kind,  but  we  scorn 
to  war  on  women  and  children.  We  are  fighting  for  the 


190  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

God-given  rights  of  liberty  and  independence,  as  handed 
down  to  us  in  the  Constitution  by  our  fathers.  So  fear  not : 
if  a  torch  is  applied  to  a  single  dwelling,  or  an  insult  offered 
to  a  female  of  your  town  by  a  soldier  of  this  command, 
point  me  out  the  man,  and  you  shall  have  his  life." 

Other  officers  were  equally  earnest  in  carrying  out  Gen 
eral  Lee's  orders  and  allaying  the  fears  of  the  citizens,  who 
were  expecting  to  see  the  same  depredations  committed  by 
the  "  rebels,"  that  had  marked  the  course  of  the  "  Union  " 
troops  all  through  the  South. 

The  people  were  utterly  astonished  at  their  lenient  treat 
ment,  and  were  loud  in  their  praise  of  "  Lee  and  his  hungry 
rebels."  One  intelligent  and  wealthy  citizen  wrote  :  "  If  it 
were  not  for  the  name  of  the  thing,  I  would  much  rather 
have  the  rebels  than  the  Union  troops  to  camp  on  my  prem 
ises.  The  former  committed  much  fewer  depredations  than 
the  latter." 

It  is  said  that  one  day  General  Lee  dismounted  and  be 
gan  with  his  own  hands  to  put  up  a  fence  that  had  been  left 
down ;  and  that  several  times  he  went  in  person  and  had 
soldiers  arrested  for  slight  depredations. 

No  man,  living  or  dead,  ever  heard  General  Lee  utter  an 
unkind  word  to  a  prisoner,  or  saw  him  maltreat  in  the  slight 
est  degree  any  who  fell  into  his  power.  And,  when  he  was 
charged  by  the  radical  press  with  being  responsible  for  al 
leged  "  cruel  treatment  "  of  prisoners,  he  quietly  said  :  "  I 
court  the  most  searching  investigation  into  this  matter." 

The  following  extract  from  his  testimony  before  the  con 
gressional  "  reconstruction  "  committee  may  be  appropriately 
introduced  in  this  connection  : 

"  Question.  By  Mr.  Howard :  '  I  wish  to  inquire  whether 
you  had  any  knowledge  of  the  cruelties  practised  toward  the 
Union  prisoners  at  Libby  Prison  and  on  .Belle  Isle  ? '  An- 
swer.  '  I  never  knew  that  any  cruelty  was  practised,  and  I 
have  no  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  practised.  I  can  be 
lieve,  and  have  reason  to  believe,  that  privations  may  have 


WANT  OF  BITTERNESS  TO   THE  NORTH.  191 

been  experienced  by  the  prisoners,  because  I  know  that  pro 
vision  and  shelter  could  not  be  provided  for  them.' 

Q.  '  Were  you  not  aware  that  the  prisoners  were  dying 
from  cold  and  starvation  $ '  A.  '  I  was  not.' 

"  Q.  '  Did  these  scenes  come  to  your  knowledge  at  all  ? ' 
A.  *  Never.  "No  report  was  ever  made  to  me  about  them. 
There  was  no  call  for  any  to  be  made  to  me.  I  did  hear — 
it  was  mere  hearsay — that  statements  had  been  made  to  the 
War  Department,  and  that  every  thing  had  been  done  to  re 
lieve  them  that  could  be  done,  even  finally  so  far  as  to  offer 
to  send  them  to  some  other  points — Charleston  was  one  point 
named — if  they  would  be  received  by  the  United  States  au 
thorities  and  taken  to  their  homes  ;  but  whether  this  is  true 
or  not  I  do  not  know.' 

"  Q.  £  And  of  course  you  know  nothing  of  the  scenes  of 
cruelty  about  which  complaints  have  been  made  at  those 
places'  (Andersonville  and  Salisbury)  ?  A.  '  Nothing  in  the 
world,  as  I  said  before.  I  suppose  they  suffered  from  want 
of  ability  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  States  to  supply 
their  wants.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  I  knew  that 
there  was  suffering  of  prisoners  on  both  sides,  but  as  far  as  I 
could  I  did  every  thing  in  my  power  to  relieve  them,  and  to 
establish  the  cartel  which  was  agreed  upon.' 

"  Q.  l  It  has  been  frequently  asserted  that  the  Confed 
erate  soldiers  feel  more  kindly  toward  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  than  any  other  people  of  the  South.  What 
are  your  observations  on  that  point  V  A.  l  From  the  Con 
federate  soldiers  I  have  heard  no  expression  of  any  other 
opinion.  They  looked  upon  the  war  as  a  necessary  evil,  and 
went  through  it.  I  have  seen  them  relieve  the  wants  of  Fed 
eral  soldiers  on  the  field.  The  orders  always  were,  that  the 
whole  field  should  be  treated  alike.  Parties  were  sent  out  to 
take  the  Federal  wounded  as  well  as  the  Confederate,  and 
the  surgeons  were  told  to  treat  the  one  as  they  did  the  other. 
These  orders  given  by  me  were  respected  on  every  field.' 

"  Q.  l  Do  you  think  that  the  good  feeling  on  their  part 


192  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

toward  the  rest  of  the  people  has  continued  since  the  close 
of  the  war  ? '    A.  '  I  know  nothing  to  the  contrary.    I  made 
several  efforts  to  exchange  the  prisoners  after  the  cartel  was 
suspended.     I  do  not  know  to  this  day  which  side  took  the 
initiative.     I  know  there  were  constant  complaints  on  both 
sides.     I  merely  know  it  from  public  rumors.     I  offered  to 
General  Grant,  around  Eichmond,  that  we  should  ourselves 
exchange  all  the  prisoners  in  our  hands.     There  was  a  com 
munication  from  the  Christian  Commission,  I  think,  which 
reached  me  at  Petersburg,  and  made  application  to  me  for  a 
passport  to  visit  all  the  prisoners  South.     My  letter  to  them, 
I  suppose,  they  have.     I  told  them  I  had  not  that  author 
ity,  that  it  could  only  be  obtained  from  the  War  Depart 
ment  at  Eichmond,  but  that  neither  they  nor  I  could  relieve 
the  sufferings  of  the  prisoners ;  that  the  only  thing  to  be 
done  for  them  was,  to  exchange  them ;  and,  to  show  that  I 
would  do  whatever  was  in  my  power,  I  offered  them  to  send 
to  City  Point  all  the  prisoners  in  Virginia  and  Xorth  Caro 
lina  over  which  my  command  extended,  provided  they  re 
turned  an  equal  number  of  mine,  man  for  man.     I  reported 
this  to  the  War  Department,  and  received  for  answer  that 
they  would  place  at  my  command  all  the  prisoners  at  the 
South  if   the  proposition  was  accepted.      I  heard  nothing 
more  on  the  subject.'  " 

The  charge  macle  against  General  Lee  in  some  of  the 
Northern  papers  of  complicity,  if  not  chief  responsibility,  in 
the  alleged  cruel  treatment  of  prisoners  was  very  annoying 
to  one  of  his  high  sense  of  right ;  but  he  did  not  permit 
himself  to  enter  into  any  public  defense.  He  did,  however, 
express  himself  quite  freely  to  his  friends,  and  the  following 
letter  is  now  for  the  first  time  given  to  the  public : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  17,  1867. 
"Dr.  CHARLES  CARTER,  ATo.  1G32  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"MY  DEAR  DR.  CARTER:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
9th  inst,  inclosing  one  to  you  from  Mr.  J.  Francis  Fisher,  in  re 
lation  to  certain  information  which  he  had  received  from  Bishop 


WANT   OF  BITTERNESS   TO   THE  NORTH.  193 

Wilmer.  My  respect  for  Mr.  Fisher's  wishes  would  induce  me 
to  reply  fully  to  all  his  questions,  but  I  have  not  time  to  do 
so  satisfactorily  ;  and,  for  reasons  which  I  am  sure  you  both 
will  appreciate,  I  have  a  great  repugnance  to  being  brought 
before  the  public  in  any  manner.  Sufficient  information  has 
been  officially  published,  I  think,  to  show  that  whatever  suffer 
ings  the  Federal  prisoners  at  the  South  underwent,  were  inci 
dent  to  their  position  as  prisoners,  and  produced  by  the  desti 
tute  condition  of  the  country,  arising  from  the  operations  of 
war.  The  laws  of  the  Confederate  Congress  and  the  orders  of 
the  War  Department  directed  that  the  rations  furnished  pris 
oners  of  war  should  be  the  same  in  quantity  and  quality  as  those 
furnished  enlisted  men  in  the  army  of  the  Confederacy,  and  that 
the  hospitals  for  prisoners  should  be  placed  on  the  same  footing 
as  other  Confederate  States  hospitals  in  all  respects.  It  was 
the  desire  of  the  Confederate  authorities  to  effect  a  continuous 
and  speedy  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war ;  for  it  was  their  true 
policv  to  do  so,  as  their  retention  was  not  only  a  calamity  to 
them,  but  a  heavy  expenditure  of  their  scanty  means  of  subsist 
ence,  and  a  privation  of  the  services  of  a  veteran  army.  Mr. 
Fisher  or  Bishop  Wilmer  has  confounded  my  offers  for  the  ex 
change  of  prisoners  with  those  made  by  Mr.  Ould,  the  commis 
sioner  of  the  Confederate  States.  It  was  he  that  offered,  when 
all  hopes  of  effecting  the  exchange  had  ceased,  to  deliver  all  the 
Federal  sick  and  wounded,  to  the  amount  of  fifteen  thousand, 
without  an  equivalent,  provided  transportation  was  furnished. 
Previously  to  this,  I  think,  I  offered  to  General  Grant  to  send 
into  his  lines  all  the  prisoners  within  my  department,  which  then 
embraced  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  provided  he  would  return 
me  man  for  man  ;  and,  when  I  informed  the  Confederate  authori 
ties  of  my  proposition,  I  was  told  that,  if  it  was  accepted,  they 
would  place  all  the  prisoners  at  the  South  at  my  disposal.  I 
offered  subsequently,  I  think  to  the  committee  of  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission,  who  visited  Petersburg  for  the  pur 
pose  of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  their  prisoners,  to  do  the 
same.  But  my  proposition  was  not  accepted.  I  understand 
that  Mr.  Pollard,  in  his  *  Lost  Cause,'  has  devoted  a  chapter  of 
bis  work  to  the  subject  of  the  exchange  of  prisoners  ;  I  have  not 
13 


1M  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

read  it,  but,  in  a  letter  received  from  Mr.  Ould,  he  stated  that  he 
had  furnished  Mr.  Pollard  with  the  facts  for  his  chapter,  and 
could  vouch  for  their  accuracy.  Dr.  Joseph  Jones  has  recently 
published  a  pamphlet  termed  '  Researches  upon  Spurious  Vac 
cination,"  etc.,  issued  from  the  University  Medical  Press,  at 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  which  he  treats  of  certain  diseases  of  the 
Federal  prisoners  at  Andersonville  and  their  causes,  which  I 
think  would  be  interesting  to  you  as  a  medical  man,  and  would 
furnish  Mr.  Fisher  with  some  of  the  information  he  desires.  I 
therefore  refer  you  to  both  of  these  works.  And  now  I  wish  you 
to  understand  that  what  I  have  written  is  for  your  personal  in 
formation  and  not  for  publication,  and  to  send  as  an  expression 
of  thanks  to  Mr.  Fisher  for  his  kind  efforts  to  relieve  the  suffer 
ings  of  the  Southern  people. 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  prayers  you  offered 
for  us  in  the  days  of  trouble.  Those  days  are  still  prolonged, 
and  we  earnestly  look  for  aid  to  our  merciful  God.  Should  I 
have  any  use  for  the  file  of  papers  you  kindly  offer  me,  I  will 
let  you  know. 

"  All  my  family  unite  with  me  in  kind  regards  to  your  wife 
and  children.  And  I  am,  very  truly,  your  cousin, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

As  this  charge  of  cruelty  to  Federal  prisoners  has  been 
again  and  again  reiterated,  and  as  the  direct  charge  against 
General  Lee  is  again  produced  in  a  book  just  issued  from  the 
press,  the  following  facts,  which  can  be  proved  before  any  fair 
tribunal,  should  go  on  the  record  : 

1.  The  Confederate  authorities  gave  to  prisoners  in  their 
hands  the  same  rations  which  they  issued  to  their  own  soldiers, 
and  gave  them  the  very  lest  accommodations  which  their 
scant  means  afforded. 

2.  They  were  always  anxious  to  exchange  prisoners,  man 
for  man,  and,  when  this  was  rejected  ~by  the  Federal  authori 
ties,  they  offered  to  send  home  the  prisoners  in  their  hands 
without  any  equivalent. 

3.  By  refusing  all  propositions  to  exchange  prisoners 


WANT   OF  BITTERNESS   TO   THE   NORTH.  195 

and  declining  even  to  receive  their  own  men  without  equiva 
lent,  the  Federal  authorities  made  themselves  responsible  for 
all  the  suffering,  of  loth  Federal  and  Confederate  ^isoners, 
that  ensued. 

4.  And  yet,  notwithstanding  these  facts,  it  is  susceptible 
of  proof,  from  the  official  records  of  the  Federal  Department, 
that  the  suffering  of  Confederate  prisoners  in  Federal  prisons 
icas  much  greater  than  that  of  Federal  prisoners  in  Confed 
erate  prisons.  Without  going  more  fully  into  the  question, 
the  following  figures  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Stanton,  Secre 
tary  of  War,  in  response  to  a  resolution  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  calling  for  the  number  of  prisoners  on  both 
sides  and  their  mortality,  are  triumphantly  submitted : 

In  Prison.  Died. 

U.  S.  soldiers 260,940  22,526 

Confederates 200,000  26,500 

That  is,  the  Confederate  States  held  as  prisoners  sixty-one 
thousand  men  more  than  the  Federals  held  of  the  Confeder 
ates  ;  and  yet  the  deaths  of  Federal  prisoners  fell  below  those 
of  Confederates  six  thousand. 

Two  Federal  prisoners  died  out  of  every  twenty-three ; 
while  two  out  of  every  fifteen  Confederates  died  in  Federal 
prisons.  The  mortality  was  fifty  per  cent,  greater  in  Federal 
prisons  than  in  ours !  And,  even  if  all  that  is  charged  against 
iis  wrere  true,  General  Lee  was  in  no  way  responsible,  as  he 
had  no  control  whatever  over  the  prisoners  after  they  were 
turned  over  to  the  authorities  at  Richmond. 

Soon  after  the  grand-jury 'found  its  indictment  against 
General  Lee,  at  a  time  when  President  Andrew  Johnson  was 
showing  a  purpose  to  carry  out  his  threat  to  "  make  treason 
odious  by  hanging  the  chief  of  the  rebel  leaders,"  and  when 
ultra  men  at  the  North  were  clamoring  for  vengeance  for  what 
they  claimed  as  "  the  complicity  of  the  South  "  in  the  assassi 
nation  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  a  party  of  friends  were  spending  an 
evening  at  his  house  in  Richmond,  and  the  conversation  nat 
urally  turned  on  these  matters.  Rev.  Dr. led  the  con- 


196  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

versation  in  expressing,  in  terms  of  decided  bitterness,  the 
indignation  of  the  South  at  the  indictment  of  General  Lee. 
The  general  pleasantly  remarked,  "  Well !  it  matters  little 
what  they  may  do  to  me ;  I  am  old,  and  have  but  a  short 
time  to  live  anyhow,"  and  veiy  soon  turned  the  conversation 

into  other  channels.  Presently  Dr. got  up  to  go,  and 

General  Lee  followed  him  out  to  the  door  and  said  to  him 
very  earnestly  :  "  Doctor,  there  is  a  good  old  book  which  I 
read,  and  you  preach  from,  which  says,  '  Love  your  enemies, 
bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and 
pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you.' 
Do  you  think  your  remarks  this  evening  were  quite  in  the 
spirit  of  that  teaching  ? " 

Dr. made  some  apology  for  the  bitterness  which  he 

felt  and  expressed,  and  General  Lee  added,  with  that  peculiar 
sweetness  of  tone  and  manner  that  we  remember  so  well : 
"  I  have  fought  against  the  people  of  the  North  because  I 
believed  they  were  seeking  to  wrest  from  the  South  dearest 
rights.  But  I  have  never  cherished  toward  them  bitter  or 
vindictive  feelings,  and  have  never  seen  the  day  when  I  did 
not  pray  for  them." 

If  the  world's  history  affords  a  sublimer  spectacle  than 
that  of  this  stern  warrior  teaching  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
of  peace  the  duty  of  love  to  enemies,  the  present  writer  has 
failed  to  note  it. 

It  is  related  that  one  day  during  the  war,  as  they  were 
reconnoitring  the  countless  hosts  opposed  to  them,  one  of 
his  subordinates  exclaimed  in  bitter  tones,  "  I  wish  those 
people  were  all  dead !  "  General  Lee,  with  that  inimitable 
grace  of  manner  peculiar  to  him,  promptly  rejoined :  "  How 
can  you  say  so,  general  ?  Now,  I  wish  that  they  were  all  at 
home  attending  to  their  own  business,  and  leaving  us  to  do 
the  same." 

One  day  in  the  autumn  of  1869,  I  saw  General  Lee 
standing  at  his  gate,  talking  to  a  humbly-clad  man,  who 
turned  off,  evidently  delighted  with  his  interview,  just  as  I 


WANT   OF  BITTERNESS  TO   THE  NORTH.  197 

came  up.  After  exchanging  salutations,  the  general  pleas 
antly  said,  pointing  to  the  retreating  form,  "  That  is  one 
of  our  old  soldiers  who  is  in  necessitous  circumstances."  I 
took  it  for  granted  that  it  was  some  veteran  Confederate,  and 
asked  to  what  command  he  belonged,  when  the  General 
quietly  and  pleasantly  added,  "  lie  f ought  on  the  other  side, 
but  we  must  not  remember  that  against  him  now" 

The  man  afterward  came  to  my  house  and  said  to  me,  in 
speaking  of  his  interview  with  General  Lee :  "  Sir,  he  is  the 
noblest  man  that  ever  lived.  He  not  only  had  a  kind  word 
for  an  old  soldier  who  fought  against  him,  but  he  gave  me 
some  money  to  help  me  on  my  way." 

What  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  teaching  of  the  apos 
tle :  ..."  If  thine  enemy  hunger,  feed  him  ;  if  he  thirst, 
give  him  drink  !  " 

Upon  the  occasion  of  the  delivery  of  an  address  at  Wash 
ington  College  by  a  certain  distinguished  orator,  General 
Lee  came  to  the  writer  and  said  :  "  I  saw  you  taking  notes 
during  the  address.  It  was  in  the  main  very  fine ;  but,  if 
you  propose  publishing  any  report  of  it,  I  would  suggest 
that  you  leave  out  all  the  bitter  expressions  against  the 
North  and  the  United  States  Government.  They  will  do 
us  no  good  under  our  present  circumstances,  and  I  think  all 
such  expressions  undignified  and  unbecoming." 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  some  of  the  most  objection 
able  of  the  so-called  "  Reconstruction  Acts,"  two  of  the  pro 
fessors  of  the  college  were  conversing  with  him,  when  one  of 
them  expressed  himself  in  very  bitter  terms  concerning  the 
dominant  party  and  their  treatment  of  the  people  of  the 
South.  General  Lee  quietly  turned  to  his  table,  and,  picking 
up  a  MS.  (which  afterward  proved  to  be  his  memoir  of  his 
father),  read  the  following  lines : 

"  Learn  from  yon  Orient  shell  to  love  thy  foe, 
And  store  with  pearls  the  hand  that  hrings  thee  woe : 
Free  like  yon  rock,  from  base,  vindictive  pride, 
Emblaze  with  gems  the  wrist  that  rends  thy  side; 


198  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Mark  where  yon  tree  rewards  the  stony  shower 
With  fruit  nectareous,  or  the  balmy  flower, 
All  Nature  cries  aloud  :  shall  man  do  less 
Than  heal  the  smiter,  and  the  railer  bless?' 


He  then  said  that  these  lines  were  written  "  in  Arabia 
and  by  a  Mussulman,  the  poet  of  Shiraz — the  immortal  Ha- 
iiz,"  and  quietly  asked,  "  Ought  not  we  who  profess  to  be 
governed  by  the  principles  of  Christianity  to  rise  at  least 
to  the  standard  of  this  Mohammedan  poet,  and  learn  to 
forgive  our  enemies  ? " 

The  conduct  of  Lee's  soldiers,  after  the  close  of  the  war, 
has  excited  the  attention  and  elicited  the  admiration  of  the 
world.  There  was  much  in  the  state  of  things,  just  after 
the  surrender,  to  excite  the  serious  apprehension  of  thinking 
men  that  these  disbanded  soldiers  would  render  the  condi 
tion  of  the  South  far  worse  by  entering  upon  a  career  of 
lawlessness.  After  long  exposure  to  the  demoralizing  influ 
ences  of  the  camp,  and  a  long  cessation  from  any  industrial 
pursuit,  these  young  men  returned  to  find  their  fondly-cher 
ished  hopes  blighted,  their  fortunes  ruined,  their  fields  laid 
waste,  and,  in  not  a  few  instances,  blackened  ruins  marking 
the  spot  of  their  once-happy  homes.  It  would  not  have 
been  surprising  if  they  had  yielded  to  despair,  and  had  sought 
redress  by  taking  the  law  into  their  own  hands.  I  claim  to 
have  thoroughly  known  the  veterans  of  Lee's  army,  and  to 
have  had  some  peculiar  opportunities  of  seeing  them  after 
the  close  of  the  war.  In  traveling  very  extensively  through 
the  South,  I  made  it  a  point  always  to  inquire  after  them, 
and  the  invariable  response  was,  "  They  have  gone  to  work, 
and  are  quiet,  orderly  members  of  society."  Many  of  them, 
who  had  been  raised  in  luxury  and  ease,  took  off  their  coat? 
and  went  into  the  corn,  tobacco,  or  cotton  fields  of  the  South, 
or  entered  upon  other  pursuits,  with  a  zeal  and  earnestness 
trully  marvelous  to  those  who  did  not  know  the  stuff  oJ 
which  these  heroic  men  were  made. 


WANT   OF  BITTERNESS   TO  THE  NORTH.  199 

They  "  accepted  the  situation,"  and,  amid  provocations 
and  insults  not  a  few,  have  proved  themselves  "  loyal "  to 
their  every  pledge — law-abiding  citizens  of  whom  any  com 
munity  might  be  proud. 

If  asked  the  explanation  of  this,  the  simplest  answer 
would  be,  "  The  soldiers  have  continued  to  follow  their  com- 
mander-in-chief"  General  Lee  was  most  scrupulous  in  ob 
serving  the  terms  of  his  parole.  He  refused  to  attend  politi 
cal  gatherings,  avoided  discussing  the  war,  or  its  issues  (ex 
cept  with  intimate  friends,  and  in  the  freedom  of  private  in 
tercourse),  and  gave  the  young  men  of  the  South  a  striking 
example  of  quiet  submission  to  the  United  States  authorities 

He  was  accustomed  to  say :  "  I  am  now  unfortunately  so 
situated  that  I  can  do  no  good ;  and,  as  I  am  anxious  to  do 
as  little  harm  as  possible,  I  deem  it  wisest  for  me  to  remain 
silent."  And  yet,  as  has  been  intimated,  the  good  order  and 
law-abiding  spirit  of  the  soldiers  and  people  of  the  South 
were  due,  in  no  small  measure,  to  the  quiet  example  and  in 
fluence  of  this  noble  man. 

His  spirit  and  conduct  at  this  critical  period,  when  all 
eyes  wrere  turned  to  him,  may  be  best  illustrated  by  quoting 
freely  from  his  private  correspondence. 

And  it  may  be  well  to  give  first  the  following  letters,  in 
which  he  endeavors  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  some  of 
his  old  soldiers : 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  April  25,  1865. 
u  Lieutenant- General  U.  S.  GBANT,  commanding  ) 
tlie  Armies  of  the  United  States.  \ 

11  GENERAL  :  I  have  awaited  your  arrival  in  Richmond  to  pro 
pose  that  the  men  and  officers  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
captured  or  surrendered  on  the  2d  and  6th  of  April,  or  since 
that  time,  may  be  granted  the  same  terms  as  given  to  those  sur 
rendered  by  me  on  the  9th.  I  see  no  benefit  that  will  result  by 
retaining  them  in  prison,  but,  on  the  contrary,  think  good  may 
be  accomplished  by  returning  them  to  their  homes.  Indeed,  if 
all  now  held  as  prisoners  of  war  were  liberated  in  the  same  man 
ner,  I  think  it  would  be  advantageous.  Should  there,  however. 


200  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

be  objections  to  this  course,  I  would  ask  that  exceptions  be  made 
in  favor  of  the  invalid  officers  and  men,  and  that  they  be  allowed 
to  return  to  their  homes  on  parole.  I  call  your  attention  par 
ticularly  to  General  Ewell,  the  members  of  the  reserves,  local 
defense  troops,  Naval  Battalion,  etc.  The  local  troops  were 
not  performing  military  duty,  and  the  Naval  Battalion  fell  in 
the  line  of  march  of  the  army  for  subsistence  and  protection. 
Understanding  that  you  may  not  reach  Richmond  for  some  days, 
I  take  the  liberty  to  forward  this  application  for  your  considera 
tion.  Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  «R.  E.  LEE,  General." 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  April  25,  1865 
"  Lieutenant-  General  U.  S.  GRANT,  commanding  ) 
the  Armies  of  the  United  States.  f 

"  GENERAL  :  I  transmit  for  your  perusal  a  communication 
just  received,  and  ask  your  interposition  in  behalf  of  the  authors. 
Similar  statements  have  been  made  to  me  by  officers  of  rank, 
which  I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  trouble  you  with,  be 
lieving  that  the  obstacles  mentioned  would  be  removed  as  soon 
as  possible.  This  is  still  my  conviction,  and  I  should  consider  it 
unnecessary  to  call  your  attention  to  the  subject,  had  I  not  been 
informed  of  orders  issued  by  the  military  commanders  at  Nor 
folk  and  Baltimore,  requiring  oaths  of  paroled  soldiers  before 
permitting  them  to  proceed  on  their  journey.  Officers  and  men 
on  parole  are  bound  in  honor  to  conform  to  the  obligations  they 
have  assumed.  This  obligation  cannot  be  strengthened  by  any 
additional  form  or  oath,  nor  is  it  customary  to  exact  them. 
"  Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE,  General" 

A  good  deal  has  been  said  about  General  Lee's  application 
for  "  amnesty."  I  am  enabled  to  publish,  for  the  first  time, 
both  his  letter  to  General  Grant  and  his  application  to  the 
President.  He  made  this  application  not  because  he  ever, 
for  a  single  moment,  admitted  that  he  needed  "  pardon  "  for 
his  course  during  the  war,  but  simply  that  he  might  show  to 
the  world  that  he  had  no  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  Govern- 


WANT   OF  BITTERNESS   TO   THE  NORTH.  201 

inent,  and  give  to  his  own  people  an  example  of  quiet  sub 
mission  to  "  the  powers  that  be." 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  Jane  13,  1865. 
"  Lieutenant- General  U.  S.  GKANT,  commanding  ) 
the  Armies  of  the  United  States.  f 

"  GENERAL  :  Upon  reading  the  President's  proclamation  of 
the  29th  ult.  I  came  to  Richmond  to  ascertain  what  was  proper 
or  required  of  me  to  do,  when  I  learned  that,  with  others,  I  was 
to  be  indicted  for  treason  by  the  grand-jury  at  Norfolk.  I  had 
supposed  that  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  were,  by  the  terms  of  their  surrender,  protected  by  the 
United  States  Government  from  molestation  so  long  as  they  con 
formed  to  its  conditions.  I  am  ready  to  meet  any  charges  that 
may  be  preferred  against  me,  and  do  not  wish  to  avoid  trial ; 
but,  if  I  am  correct  as  to  the  protection  granted  by  my  parole, 
and  am  not  to  be  prosecuted,  I  desire  to  comply  with  the  provi 
sions  of  the  President's  proclamation,  and  therefore  inclose  the 
required  application,  which  I  request  in  that  event  may  be  acted 
on.  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your   obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "  R  E.  LEE." 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  June  13,  1865. 
u  His  Excellency  ANDEEW  JOHNSON,  President  of  the  United  States. 

"  SIR  :  Being  excluded  from  the  provisions  of  amnesty  and 
pardon  contained  in  the  proclamation  of  the  29th  ult.,  I  hereby 
apply  for  the  benefits  and  full  restoration  of  all  rights  and  privi 
leges  extended  to  those  included  in  its  terms.  I  graduated  at 
the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  in  June,  1829;  resigned 
from  the  United  States  Army,  April,  1861;  was  a  general  in  the 
Confederate  Army,  and  included  in  the  surrender  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  April  9,  1865. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

In  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  future  of  the  South,  just 
after  the  close  of  the  war,  many  of  our  best  men  were  seri 
ously  thinking  of  seeking  homes  in  foreign  lands.  General 


£02     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Lee's  influence,  more  than  any  thing  else,  prevented  this. 
The  following  is  one  of  many  letters  which  he  wrote  on  that 
subject : 

"NEAR  CARTERSVILLE,  VA.,  July  31,  1865. 
"  Colonel  RICHARD  L.  MAUEY,  University  of  Virginia. 

"My  DEAR  COLONEL:  I  received,  by  the  last  packet  from 
Richmond,  your  letter  of  the  22d,  inclosing  an  extract  from  a 
letter  of  your  father  to  you,  dated  June  27th,  and  a  project  of  a 
decree  of  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  to  encourage  emigration  of 
the  planters  of  the  South  to  that  country.  I  was  very  glad  to 
learn  of  the  well-being  of  your  father,  and  of  his  safe  arrival 
in  Mexico ;  and  have  felt  assured  that,  wherever  he  might  be, 
he  deeply  sympathized  with  the  suffering  of  the  people  of  the 
South,  and  was  ready  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  relieve  them.  I 
do  not  know  -how  far  their  emigration  to  another  land  will 
conduce  to  their  prosperity.  Although  prospects  may  not  now 
be  cheering,  I  have  entertained  the  opinion  that,  unless  pre 
vented  by  circumstances  or  necessity,  it  would  be  better  for 
them  and  the  country  to  remain  at  their  homes  and  share  the 
fate  of  their  respective  States.  I  hope  the  efforts  of  your  father 
will,  however,  facilitate  the  wishes  and  promote  the  welfare 
of  all  who  may  find  it  necessary  or  convenient  to  expatriate 
themselves,  but  should  sincerely  regret  that  either  he  or  his 
should  be  embraced  in  that  number.  I  beg  you  will  present 
to  him  my  most  cordial  thanks  for  his  sympathy  and  interest  in 
our  welfare,  and  my  best  wishes  for  his  happiness.  For  your 
own  kind  expressions  toward  me  and  my  family,  please  accept 
my  grateful  thanks.  My  daughters  unite  with  me  in  kindest 
regards  to  Mrs.  Maury,  and  I  am  most  truly  and 

"  Respectfully  yours, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  letter,  to  the  distinguished  gentleman  who 
so  ably  filled  the  Governor's  chair  of  Virginia  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  war,  will  be  read  with  interest,  and  gives 
a  full  view  of  his  feelings  and  purposes  at  the  time  : 


WANT   OF  BITTERNESS   TO   THE    NORTH.  203 

"NEAR  CARTERSVILLE,  YA.,  August  28,  1865. 
*  Hon.  JOUN  LETCHEB,  Lexington,  Va. 

MY  DEAK  SIK:  I  was  much  pleased  to  hear  of  your  return  to 
your  home,  and  to  learn  by  your  letter  of  the  2d  of  the  kindness 
and  consideration  with  which  you  were  treated  during  your  ar 
rest,  and  of  the  sympathy  extended  to  you  by  your  former  con 
gressional  associates  and  friends  in  Washington.  The  concilia 
tory  manner  in  which  President  Johnson  spoke  of  the  South 
must  have  been  particularly  agreeable  to  one  who  has  the  inter 
est  of  its  people  so  much  at  heart  as  yourself.  I  wish  that  spirit 
could  become  more  general.  It  would  go  far  to  promote  confi 
dence,  and  to  calm  feelings  which  have  too  long  existed.  The 
questions  which  for  years  were  in  dispute  between  the  State  and 
General  Government,  and  which  unhappily  were  not  decided  by 
the  dictates  of  reason,  but  referred  to  the  decision  of  war,  having 
been  decided  against  us,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  acquiesce  in 
the  result,  and  of  candor  to  recognize  the  fact. 

"  The  interests  of  the  State  are  therefore  the  same  as  those  of 
the  United  States.  Its  prosperity  will  rise  or  fall  with  the  wel 
fare  of  the  country.  The  duty  of  its  citizens,  then,  appears  tome 
too  plain  to  admit  of  doubt.  All  should  unite  in  honest  efforts 
to  obliterate  the  effects  of  war,  and  to  restore  the  blessings  of 
peace.  They  should  remain,  if  possible,  in  the  country ;  promote 
harmony  and  good  feeling ;  qualify  themselves  to  vote ;  and 
elect  to  the  State  and  general  Legislatures  wise  and  patriotic 
men,  who  will  devote  their  abilities  to  the  interests  of  the  coun 
try,  and  the  healing  of  all  dissensions.  I  have  invariably  recom 
mended  this  course  since  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  have  en 
deavored  to  practise  it  myself.  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the 
interest  you  have  expressed  in  my  acceptance  of  the  presidency 
of  Washington  College.  If  I  believed  I  could  be  of  advantage 
to  the  youth  of  the  country,  I  should  not  hesitate.  I  have 
stated  to  the  committee  of  trustees  the  objections  which  exist 
in  my  opinion  to  my  filling  the  position,  and  will  yield  to  their 
judgment.  Please  present  me  to  Mrs.  Letcher  and  your  chil 
dren,  and  believe  me  most  truly  yours, 

"R.E.  LEE." 


20i     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

The  following  characteristic  letter  illustrates  several 
points  of  his  character  : 

"NEAR  CARTERSVILLE,  YA.,  September  4,  1865. 
"  Mr.  A.  M.  KEILEY,  Petersburg,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  only  received  yesterday  your  letter  of  the 
JLlth  ult.  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind  propo 
sition,  and  beg  you  to  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  conveyed.  I  am  compelled  to  decline  your  offer, 
and,  as  I  feel  convinced  that  my  services  would  be  of  no  advan 
tage  to  your  enterprise,  I  do  so  with  the  less  regret.  I  trust, 
however,  you  will  carry  out  your  design.  A  journal  such  as  you 
propose  will  be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  country.  It  should 
be  the  object  of  all  to  avoid  controversy,  to  allay  passion,  give 
full  scope  to  reason  and  every  kindly  feeling.  By  doing  this,  and 
encouraging  our  citizens  to  engage  in  the  duties  of  life  with  all 
their  heart  and  mind,  with  a  determination  not  to  be  turned  aside 
by  thoughts  of  the  past  and  fears  of  the  future,  our  country  will 
not  only  be  restored  in  material  prosperity,  but  will  be  advanced 
in  science,  in  virtue,  and  in  religion. 

"  Wishing  you  every  success,  I  am  most  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  <;  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  letter  explains  itself  : 

"  NEAR  CARTERSVILLE,  VA.,  September  4,  1865. 
"  To  the  COUNT  JOANNES,  No.  37  East  27th  Street,  City  of  New  York. 

"  SIR  :  I  received  a  few  days  since  your  communication  of 
the  14th  ult.,  transmitting  a  copy  of  your  published  letter  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States. 

"  Your  arguments  and  conclusions  are  duly  appreciated,  and 
I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  the  offer  of  your  legal  ser 
vices  to  defend  me  against  the  charge  of  treason.  Should  they 
become  necessary,  they  will  be  gratefully  accepted. 

"  In  your  letter  to  me  you  do  the  people  of  the  South  but 
simple  justice  in  believing  that  they  heartily  concur  with  you  in 
opinion  in  regard  to  the  assassination  of  the  late  President  Lin 
coln.  It  is  a  crime  previously  unknown  to  this  country,  and  one 
that  must  be  deprecated  by  every  American. 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  R.  E.  LEE." 


DEMOTION  TO  THE  INTERESTS  OF  THE  SOUTH.  205 

The  following,  to  a  distinguished  naval  officer,  will  show 
the  character  of  the  influence  which  General  Lee  exerted  : 

"  NEAR  CARTERSYILLE,  VA.,  September  7,  1865. 
"  Captain  JOSIAH  TATNALL,  Savannah,  Ga. 

"  Sm  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  23d  ult.,  and  in  re 
ply  will  state  the  course  I  have'  pursued  under  circumstances 
similar  to  your  own,  and  will  leave  you  to  judge  of  its  propriety. 
Like  yourself,  I  have,  since  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  advised  all 
with  whom  I  have  conversed  on  the  subject,  who  come  within 
the  terms  of  the  President's  proclamations,  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  and  accept  in  good  faith  the  amnesty  offered.  But  I 
have  gone  further,  and  have  recommended  to  those  who  were  ex 
cluded  from  their  benefits,  to  make  application  under  the  proviso 
of  the  proclamation  of  the  29th  of  May,  to  be  embraced  in  its 
provisions.  Both  classes,  in  order  to  be  restored  to  their  former 
rights  and  privileges,  were  required  to  perform  a  certain  act,  and 
I  do  not  see  that  an  acknowledgment  of  fault  is  expressed  in 
one  more  than  the  other.  The  war  being  at  an  end,  the  South 
ern  States  having  laid  down  their  arms,  and  the  questions  at  is 
sue  between  them  and  the  Northern  States  having  been  decided, 
I  believe  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  one  to  unite  in  the  restoration 
of  the  country,  and  the  reestablishment  of  peace  and  harmony. 
These  considerations  governed  me  in  the  counsels  I  gave  to 
others,  and  induced  me  on  the  13th  of  June  to  make  application 
to  be  included  in  the  terms  of  the  amnesty  proclamation.  I  have 
not  received  an  answer,  and  cannot  inform  you  what  has  been  the 
decision  of  the  President.  But,  whatever  that  may  be,  I  do  not 
see  how  the  course  I  have  recommended  and  practised  can  prove 
detrimental  to  the  former  President  of  the  Confederate  States. 
It  appears  to  me  that  the  allayment  of  passion,  the  dissipation 
of  prejudice,  and  the  restoration  of  reason,  will  alone  enable  the 
people  of  the  country  to  acquire  a  true  knowledge  and  form  a 
correct  judgment  of  the  events  of  the  past  four  years.  It  will,  I 
think,  be  admitted  that  Mr.  Davis  has  done  nothing  more  than 
all  the  citizens  of  the  Southern  States,  and  should  not  be  held 
accountable  for  acts  performed  by  them  in  the  exercise  of  what 
had  been  considered  by  them  unquestionable  right.  I  have  too 


206  REUIXISCEXCE3   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

exalted  an  opinion  of  the  American  people  to  believe  that  they 
will  consent  to  injustice ;  and  it  is  only  necessary,  in  my  opinion, 
that  truth  should  be  known,  for  the  rights  of  every  one  to  be  se 
cured.  I  know  of  no  surer  way  of  eliciting  the  truth  than  by 
burying  contention  with  the  war.  I  inclose  a  copy  of  my  letter 
to  President  Johnson,  and  feel  assured  that,  however  imperfectly 
T  may  have  given  you  my  views  on  the  subject  of  your  letter, 
your  own  high  sense  of  honor  and  right  will  lead  you  to  a  satis 
factory  conclusion  as  to  the  proper  course  to  be  pursued  in  your 
own  case. 

"  With  great  respect  and  esteem,  I  am  your  most  obedient 
servant,  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  letter  to  the  great  scientist  whom  the  whole 
world  honored,  and  whose  death  was  so  widely  deplored — 
who  was  General  Lee's  intimate  friend,  and  in  whose  society 
in  Lexington  he  seemed  so  much  to  delight — will  be  read 
with  peculiar  interest : 

"XEAR  CARTERSVILLE,  VA.,  September  8,  1865. 
"Captain  M.  F.  MAURY. 

"  MY  DEAR  CAPTAIN  :  I  have  just  received  your  letter  of 
the  8th  ult.  We  have  certainly  not  found  our  form  of  govern 
ment  all  that  was  anticipated  by  its  original  founders ;  but  that 
may  be  partly  our  fault  in  expecting  too  much,  and  partly  in 
the  absence  of  virtue  in  the  people.  As  long  as  virtue  was 
dominant  in  the  republic,  so  long  was  the  happiness  of  the  peo 
ple  secure.  I  cannot,  however,  despair  of  it  yet.  I  look  for 
ward  to  better  days,  and  trust  that  time  and  experience,  the 
great  teachers  of  men,  under  the  guidance  of  an  ever-merciful 
God,  may  save  us  from  destruction,  and  restore  to  us  the  bright 
hopes  and  prospects  of  the  past.  The  thought  of  abandoning 
the  country  and  all  that  must  be  left  in  it  is  abhorrent  to  my 
feelings,  and  I  prefer  to  struggle  for  its  restoration  and  share  its 
fate,  rather  than  to  give  up  all  as  lost.  I  have  a  great  admira 
tion  for  Mexico  ;  the  salubrity  of  its  climate,  the  fertility  of  its 
soil,  and  the  magnificence  of  its  scenery,  possess  for  me  great 
charms  ;  but  I  still  look  with  delight  upon  the  mountains  of  my 
native  State.  To  remove  our  people  with  their  domestics  to  a 


DEVOTION   TO   THE   INTERESTS   OF  THE   SOUTH.  207 

portion  of  Mexico  which  would  be  favorable  to  them,  would  be 
a  work  of  much  difficulty.  Did  they  possess  the  means,  and 
could  the  system  of  apprenticeship  you  suggest  be  established, 
the  United  States  Government,  I  think,  would  interpose  ob 
stacles  ;  and  under  the  circumstances  there  would  be  difficulty 
in  persuading  the  freedmen  to  emigrate.  Those  citizens  who 
can  leave  the  country,  and  others  who  may  be  compelled  to  do 
so,  will  reap  the  fruits  of  your  considerate  labor ;  but  I  shall  be 
very  sorry  if  your  presence  be  lost  to  Virginia.  She  has  now 
need  for  all  of  her  sons,  and  can  ill  afford  to  spare  you.  1  arn 
very  much  obliged  to  you  for  all  you  have  done  for  us,  and  hope 
your  labors  in  the  future  may  be  as  efficacious  as  in  the  past, 
and  that  your  separation  from  us  may  not  be  permanent.  Wish 
ing  you  every  prosperity  and  happiness, 

"  I  am  most  truly  yours, 
(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following,  to  the  gallant  and  distinguished  soldier 
with  whom  General  Lee  always  preserved  the  kindliest  re 
lations,  will  be  appropriately  introduced  in  this  connection  : 

"LEXINGTON,  YA.,  October  3,  1865. 
"  General  G-.  T.  BEAUREGARD,  New  Orleans,  La. 

"MY  DEAR  GENERAL:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
1st  ult.,  and  am  very  sorry  to  learn  that  the  papers  of  yourself 
and  Johnston  are  lost,  or  at  least  beyond  your  reach  ;  but  I  hope 
they  may  be  recovered.  Mine  never  can  be,  though  some  may 
be  replaced.  Please  supply  all  you  can  ;  it  may  be  safer  to  send 
them  by  private  hands,  if  practicable,  to  Mr.  Caskie,  at  Rich 
mond,  or  to  me  at  this  place.  I  hope  both  you  and  Johnston 
will  write  the  history  of  your  campaigns.  Every  one  should  do 
all  in  his  power  to  collect  and  disseminate  the  truth,  in  the  hope 
that  it  may  find  a  place  in  history,  and  descend  to  posterity.  I 
am  glad  to  see  no  indication  in  your  letter  of  an  intention  to 
leave  the  country.  I  think  the  South  requires  the  aid  of  her 
sons  now  more  than  at  any  period  of  her  history.  As  you  ask 
my  purpose,  I  will  state  that  I  have  no  thought  of  abandoning 
her  unless  compelled  to  do  so. 

"  After  the  surrender  of  the  Southern  armies  in  April,  the 


208  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

revolution  in  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  the  people  seemed  so 
complete,  and  the  return  of  the  Southern  States  into  the  Union 
of  all  the  States  so  inevitable,  that  it  became  in  my  opinion  the 
duty  of  every  citizen,  the  contest  being  virtually  ended,  to  cease 
opposition,  and  place  himself  in  a  position  to  serve  the  country. 
I  therefore,  upon  the  promulgation  of  the  proclamation  of  Presi 
dent  Johnson,  of  29th  of  May,  which  indicated  his  policy  in 
the  restoration  of  peace,  determined  to  comply  with  its  require 
ments,  and  applied  on  the  13th  of  June  to  be  embraced  within 
its  provisions.  I  have  not  heard  the  result  of  my  application. 
Since  then,  I  have  been  elected  to  the  presidency  of  Washing 
ton  College,  and  have  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office,  in 
the  hope  of  being  of  some  service  to  the  noble  youth  of  oui 
country.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  true  patriotism  sometimes 
requires  of  men  to  act  exactly  contrary,  at  one  period,  to  that 
.which  it  does  at  another,  and  the  motive  which  impels  them — 
the  desire  to  do  right — is  precisely  the  same.  The  circum 
stances  which  govern  their  actions,  change,  and  their  conduct 
must  conform  to  the  new  order  of  things.  History  is  full  of  il 
lustrations  of  this  :  Washington  himself  is  an  example  of  this. 
At  one  time  he  fought  against  the  French,  under  Braddock,  in 
the  service  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain  ;  at  another,  he  fought 
with  the  French  at  Yorktown,  under  the  orders  of  the  Conti 
nental  Congress  of  America,  against  him.  He  has  not  been 
branded  by  the  world  with  reproach  for  this,  but  his  course  has 
been  applauded.  With  sentiments  of  great  esteem, 
"  I  am  most  truly  yours, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

He  cherished  the  liveliest  interest  in  those  of  his  old  sol 
diers  who  were  in  voluntary  exile.  The  following,  to  a  gal 
lant  gentleman,  is  a  specimen  of  many  such  letters  which  lie 
wrote : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  23,  1865. 
"  General  0.  M.  WILCOX,  City  of  Mexico. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  I  have  just  received  your  letter  of 
the  3d  inst.,  and  am  very  glad  to  hear  of  your  safety  and  your 
health.  I  inclose  a  short  statement  of  your  military  career, 


DEVOTICW  TO   THE   INTERESTS   OF   THE   SOUTH.          209 

which  I  hope  will  answer  your  purpose.  My  time  does  not  per 
mit  my  entering  into  details,  you  must  supply  them  ;  neither 
am  I  able  to  advise  you  on  the  subject  of  entering  the  military 
service  of  Mexico,  except  so  far  as  my  judgment  and  feelings 
may  be  inferred  from  my  own  action.  They  do  not  prompt  me 
to  do  so,  but,  on  the  -contrary,  impel  me  to  remain  with  my  own 
people  and  share  their  fortunes,  unless  prevented  by  inexorable 
circumstances.  I  must  refer  you  to  the  papers  for  information 
as  to  the  state  of  the  country.  You  will  see,  by  the  message 
of  President  Johnson,  his  views  and  policy  ;  to  what  degree  he 
will  be  sustained  by  Congress,  I  cannot  say  ;  as  yet,  it  has 
shown  no  favorable  disposition  that  I  am  aware  of.  I  fear  the 
South  has  yet  to  suffer  many  evils,  and  it  will  require  time,  pa 
tience,  and  fortitude,  to  heal  her  afflictions. 

"  Please  present  my  kindest  regards  to  all  our  friends  near 
you ;  I  feel  a  deep  interest  in  their  welfare,  and  hope  you  and 
they  may  enjoy  all  happiness  and  prosperity. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  friend  and  servant, 

"R  E.  LEE." 

The  following  additional  letter  to  General  Beauregard 
needs  no  explanation  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  23,  1865. 
"  General  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD,  New  Orleans,  La. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  I  have  just  received,  by  the  hands 
of  Captain  Kitchens,  your  letter  of  the  25th  ult.,  and  the  copies 
of  your  public  letters,  telegrams,  and  reports,  mentioned  in  the 
accompanying  list.  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  them, 
and  hope  you  may  soon  be  able  to  send  me  the  remainder  of 
such  as  I  requested  in  my  former  letter.  I  must  beg  you  to 
present  my  heart-felt  thanks  to  Miss  Blanche  Bernard,  for  her 
kindness  in  preparing  me  the  copies  on  foolscap,  and  say  to  her 
all  that  I  would  did  opportunity  permit. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  you  have  determined  to  re 
main  in  the  country,  and  have  set  regularly  to  work.  I  think  it 
is  the  course  indicated  by  true  patriotism.  My  remarks  in  my 
former  letter  were  not  intended  to  question  the  conduct  of  South 
ern  citizens  before  the  war,  but  to  show  that,  what  patriotism 
14 


210  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

required  of  them  then,  it  requires  of  them  now ;  if  they  do  not 
so  read,  I  beg  you  will  correct  them. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  general,  most  truly  yours, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following,  to  a  distinguished  Northern  politician,  is 
a  very  quiet  but  emphatic  vindication  of  the  course  of  the 
South : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  6,  1866. 
"  Mr.  CHAUNCEY  BURR. 

"My  DEAR  SIR:  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your 
letter  of  the  12th  ult.,  and  for  the  number  of  the  Old  Guard 
which  you  kindly  sent  me.  I  am  glad  to  know  that  the  intelli 
gent  and  respectable  people  at  the  North  are  true  and  conserva 
tive  in  their  opinions ;  for  I  believe  by  no  other  course  can  the 
right  interest  of  the  country  be  maintained.  All  that  the  South 
has  ever  desired  was  that  the  Union,  as  established  by  our  fore 
fathers,  should  be  preserved;  and  that  the  Government,  as  ori 
ginally  organized,  should  be  administered  in  purity  and  truth. 
If  such  is  the  desire  of  the  North,  there  can  be  no  contention 
between  the  two  sections ;  and  all  true  patriots  will  unite  in  ad 
vocating  that  policy  which  will  soonest  restore  the  country  to 
tranquillity  and  order,  and  serve  to  perpetuate  true  republi 
canism. 

"  Please  accept  my  thanks  for  your  advocacy  of  right  and 
liberty,  and  for  the  kind  sentiments  which  you  express  toward 
myself;  and  believe  me  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "R  E.  LEE." 

The  following,  to  his  friend  Hon.  Reverdy  Johnson,  ex 
presses  very  emphatically  his  views  on  the  "test-oath,"  and 
other  m'atters : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  27,  1866. 
"•Eon.  EEVERDT  JOHNSON,  Washington  City,  D.  C. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your 
kind  letter  of  the  8th  inst.,  and  for  the  opportunity  afforded,  by 
the  pamphlet  which  accompanied  it,  of  reading  your  speech  be 
fore  the  Supreme  Court,  on  the  subject  of  the  test-oath.  I 


DEVOTION   TO   THE   INTERESTS  OF  THE   SOUTH.  211 

should  have  expressed  my  thanks  to  you  sooner ;  but  I  have  but 
recently  returned  from  a  visit  to  Richmond,  where  I  was  de 
tained  a  week  on  business  connected  with  Washington  College. 
I  have  been  looking  anxiously  for  a  decision  of  the  question  by 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  cannot  but  hope  it  will  be  favorable. 
You  have  so  ably  presented  the  arguments  and  reasons  on  the 
subject,  that  I  trust  they  may  prevail.     I  have  hoped  that  Con 
gress  would  have  thought  proper  to  have  repealed  the  acts  im 
posing  it,  and  all  similar  tests.     To  pursue  a  policy  which  will 
continue  the  prostration  of  one-half  the  country,  alienate  the  af 
fections  of  its  inhabitants  from  the  Government,  and  which  must 
eventually  result  in  injury  to  the   country  and  the  American 
people,  appears  to  me  so  manifestly  injudicious  that  I  do  not  see 
how  those  responsible  can  tolerate  it.    I  sincerely  thank  you  for 
the  repetition  of  your  kind  offer  to  aid  me  in  any  way  in  your 
power.     I  have  been  awaiting  the  action  of  President  Johnson 
upon  my  application  to  be  embraced  in  his  proclamation  of  May 
29th,  and  for  my  restoration  to  civil  rights,  before  attempting  to 
close  the  estate  of  Mr.  G.  W.  P.  Custis,  of  which  I  am  sole  ad 
ministrator.     His  servants  were  all  liberated,  agreeably  to  the 
terms  of  his  will ;  but  I  have  been  unable  to  place  his  grand 
children  in  possession  of  the  property  bequeathed  them.    A  por 
tion  of  his  landed  property  has  been  sold  by  the  Government,  in 
the  belief,  I  presume,  that  it  belonged  to  me ;  whereas  I  owned 
no  part  of  it,  nor  had  any  other  charge  than  as  administrator.    His 
will,  in  his  own  handwriting,  is  on  file  in  the  court  of  Alexandria 
County.     Arlington,  and  the  tract  on  *  Four-Mile  Run,' given 
him  by  General  Washington,  he  left  to  his  only  child,  Mrs.  Lee, 
during  her  life,  and,  at  her  death,  to  his  eldest  grandson.     Both 
of  these  tracts  have  been  sold  by  Government.     It  has  also  sold 
Smith's  Island  (off  Cape  Charles),  which  Mr.  Custis  directed  to 
be  sold  to  aid  in  paying  certain  legacies  to  his  granddaughters. 
If  in  your  opinion  there  is  any  thing  that  can  be  done  to  enable 
me  to  bestow  the  property  as  bequeathed  by  the  testator,  and 
to  close  my  administration  of  his  estate,  I  would  be  greatly 
obliged  to  you  to  inform  me. 

"  I  am,  with  great  esteem,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  «R,  E.  LEE." 


212  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

The  following,  to  the  wife  of  President  Davis,  shows  his 
indisposition  to  engage  in  controversy,  and  his  keen  sym 
pathy  for  Mr.  Davis  in  his  imprisonment : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  23,  1866. 
"  Mrs.  JEFFEKSON  DAVIS,  Prospect  Hill,  Ga. 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  DAVIS  :  Your  letter  of  the  12th  inst.  reached 
Lexington  during  my  absence  at  Washington.  I  have  never 
seen  Mr.  Colfax's  speech,  and  am  therefore  ignorant  of  the 
statements  it  contained.  Had  it,  however,  come  under  my  notice, 
I  doubt  whether  I  should  have  thought  it  proper  to  have  replied. 
I  have  thought,  from  the  time  of  the  cessation  of  hostilities, 
that  silence  and  patience  on  the  part  of  the  South  was  the  true 
course,  and  I  think  so  still.  Controversy  of  all  kinds  will  in  my 
opinion  only  serve  to  continue  excitement  and  passion,  and  will 
prevent  the  public  mind  from  the  acknowledgment  and  accept 
ance  of  the  truth.  These  considerations  have  kept  me  from 
replying  to  accusations  made  against  myself,  and  induced  me  to 
recommend  the  same  to  others. 

"  As  regards  the  treatment  of  the  Andersonville  prisoners,  to 
which  you  allude,  I  know  nothing,  and  could  say  nothing  of  my 
own  knowledge.  I  never  had  any  thing  to  do  with  any  pris 
oners,  except  to  send  those  taken  on  the  fields  where  I  was  en 
gaged,  to  the  provost-marshal-general  at  Richmond. 

"  I  have  felt  most  keenly  the  sufferings  and  imprisonment  of 
your  husband ;  and  have  earnestly  consulted  with  friends  as  to 
any  possible  mode  of  affording  him  relief  and  consolation.  He 
enjoys  the  sympathy  and  respect  of  all  good  men ;  and,  if,  as 
you  state,  his  trial  is  now  near,  the  exhibition  of  the  whole 
truth  in  his  case  will,  I  trust,  prove  his  defense  and  justification. 
With  sincere  prayers  for  his  health  and  speedy  restoration  to 
liberty,  and  earnest  supplication  to  God  that  he  may  take  you 
and  yours  under  His  guidance  and  protection. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following,  to  an  old  and  long-tried  friend,  will  serve 
to  illustrate  several  points  of  his  character: 


DEVOTION   TO  THE   INTERESTS  OF   THE  SOUTH.  213 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  1,  1866. 
Mr.  E.  J.  QUIRK,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

11  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  received  with  much  pleasure  your  letter 
of  the  20th  of  January,  and  am  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  well 
and  prosperous.  A  continuance  of  the  manly  exertion  and  rigid 
fidelity  which  you  have  hitherto  practised  will  still  further  ad 
vance  you  in  life,  and  enable  you  to  accomplish  much  good  in 
the  world.  Time  seems  to  have  fallen  lightly  on  you,  and  your 
photograph  represents  you  but  little  changed  from  the  period 
when  I  first  met  you  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  Yet  the 
fact  which  you  mention,  of  having  a  married  daughter  living  in 
Nevada,  shows  the  length  of  time  which  has  elapsed.  I  hope 
future  years  will  bring  you  equal  happiness,  and  equal  prosper 
ity.  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  send  a  photograph  of 
myself,  taken  during  the  war.  I  am  sure  that  you  will  scarcely 
recognize  a  single  trace  of  him  whom  you  met  at  the  quarries 
of  St.  Louis. 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  bold  defense  of  me 
in  the  New  York  papers,  at  a  time  when  many  were  willing  to 
believe  anv  enormity  charged  against  me. 

"This  same  slander  which  you  at  the  time  denounced  as 
false,  was  nevertheless  circulated  at  the  North,  and  since  the 
termination  of  hostilities  has  been  renewed  in  Europe.  Yet 
there  is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it,  or  any  ground  for  its  origin. 
No  servant,  soldier,  or  citizen,  that  was  ever  employed  by  me, 
can  with  truth  charge  me  with  bad  treatment.  You  must  pre 
sent  my  kind  regards  to  your  daughter.  I  am  glad  that  you 
have  her  near  you.  I  know  she  will  be  a  great  comfort  to  you. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  your  health,  happiness,  and  pros 
perity,  and  many  thanks  for  your  kind  remembrance  of  me, 

"I  am,  with  much  esteem,  very  truly  yours, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  indicates  his  deep  interest  in  the  educa 
tional  interests  of  the  country  : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  20,  1866. 
"  Rev.  G.  W.  LEYBURN,  Care  of  Rev.  Dr.  Ramsey,  Lynchhurg,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  27th  ult., 
in  reference  to  our  conversation  upon  the  subject  of  the  educa- 


214  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

tional  interests  of  the  country.  So  greatly  have  these  interests 
been  disturbed  at  the  South,  and  so  much  does  its  future  con 
dition  depend  upon  the  rising  generation,  that  I  consider  the 
proper  education  of  its  youth  one  of  the  most  important  objects 
now  to  be  attained,  and  one  from  which  the  greatest  benefits 
may  be  expected.  Nothing  will  compensate  us  for  the  depres 
sion  of  the  standard  of  our  moral  and  intellectual  culture,  and 
each  State  should  take  the  most  energetic  measures  to  revive 
its  schools  and  colleges,  and,  if  possible,  to  increase  the  facili 
ties  of  instruction,  and  to  elevate  the  standard  of  learning. 

"  The  Legislature  of  Virginia,  at  its  recent  session,  evinced 
its  sense  of  the  importance  of  education,  by  providing  for  the 
payment  of  the  interest  of  its  bonds  held  by  the  several  institu 
tions  of  learning,  and  by  making  the  usual  annual  appropria 
tions  to  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  to  the  Virginia  Military 
Institute,  notwithstanding  the  extreme  financial  pressure  under 
which  the  State  is  suffering.  As  regards  Washington  College, 
you  are  aware  of  the  efforts  which  its  friends  are  making  to  in 
crease  its  endowment,  so  as  to  expand  its  course  of  instruction. 
This  is  necessary,  in  my  opinion,  in  order  to  keep  pace  with  the 
advancement  of  science,  and  to  provide  for  the  present  wants  of 
the  country.  If  it  is  accomplished  it  will  be  of  the  greatest  ad 
vantage,  not  only  to  the  surrounding  community,  but  to  the 
State  and  to  the  South.  There  are  at  present  representatives  at 
the  college  from  all  the  Southern  States  except  Arkansas. 

"  Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following,  to  one  of  his  favorite  officers,  expresses 
his  feelings  very  freely  on  various  points  of  interest : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  15,  1866. 
"  General  J.  A.  EARLY,  Care  of  J.  Anderson,  Esq.,  ) 
Ciudad  de  Mexico,  Mexico.  ( 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the 
copies  of  my  letters  forwarded  with  yours  of  the  25th  January. 
I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  send  me  reports  of  the  operations  of 
your  commands  in  the  campaign  from  the  Wilderness  to  Rich- 


DEVOTION   TO  THE  INTERESTS  OF  THE   SOUTH.          215 

mond,  at  Lynchburg,  in  the  Valley,  Maryland,  etc.  All  statis 
tics  as  regards  numbers,  destruction  of  private  property  by  the 
Federal  troop's,  etc.,  I  should  like  to  have,  as  I  wish  my  mem 
ory  strengthened  on  those  points.  It  will  be  difficult  to  get  the 
\vorld  to  understand  the  odds  against  which  we  fought ;  and  the 
destruction,  or  loss,  of  all  returns  of  the  army  embarrasses  me 
very  much.  I  read  your  letter  from  Havana,  in  the  New  York 
JVews,  with  much  interest,  and  was  pleased  with  the  temper  in 
which  it  was  written.  I  have  since  received  the  paper  contain 
ing  it,  published  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  also  your  letter  in 
reference  to  Mr.  Davis.  I  understand  and  appreciate  the  mo 
tives  which  prompted  both  letters,  and  think  they  will  be  of 
service  in  the  way  you  intended.  I  have  been  much  pained  to 
see  the  attempts  made  to  cast  odium  upon  Mr.  Davis,  but  do 
not  think  they  will  be  successful  with  the  reflecting  or  informed 
portion  of  the  country.  The  accusations  against  myself  I  have 
not  thought  proper  to  notice,  or  even  to  correct  misrepresenta 
tions  of  my  words  and  acts.  We  shall  have  to  be  patient,  and 
suffer  for  a  while  at  least ;  and  all  controversy,  I  think,  will  only 
serve  to  prolong  angry  and  bitter  feelings,  and  postpone  the 
period  when  reason  and  charity  may  resume  their  sway.  At 
present  the  public  mind  is  not  prepared  to  receive  the  truth. 
The  feelings  which  influenced  you  to  leave  the  country  were 
natural,  and  I  presume  were  uppermost  in  the  breasts  of  many. 
It  was  a  matter  which  each  one  had  to  decide  for  himself,  as  he 
could  only  know  the  reasons  which  governed  him.  I  was  par 
ticularly  anxious  on  your  account,  as  I  had  the  same  apprehen 
sions  to  which  you  refer.  I  am  truly  glad  that  you  are  beyond 
the  reach  of  annoyance,  and  hope  you  may  be  able  to  employ 
yourself  profitably  and  usefully.  Mexico  is  a  beautiful  country, 
fertile,  of  vast  resources,  and,  with  a  stable  government  and  a 
virtuous  population,  will  rise  to  greatness.  I  do  not  think  that 
your  letters  can  be  construed  by  your  former  associates  as  re 
flecting  upon  them,  and  I  have  never  heard  the  least  blame  cast, 
by  those  who  have  remained,  upon  those  who  thought  it  best  to 
leave  the  country.  I  think  I  stated  in  a  former  letter  the  reasons 
which  governed  me,  and  will  not,  therefore,  repeat  them.  I  hope 
in  time  peace  will  be  restored  to  the  country,  and  that  the 


216  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

South  may  enjoy  some  measure  of  prosperity.  I  fear,  however, 
much  suffering  is  still  in  store  for  her,  and  that  her  people  must 
Oe  prepared  to  exercise  fortitude  and  forbearance.  I  must  beg 
you  to  present  my  kind  regards  to  the  gentlemen  with  you ;  and, 
with  my  best  wishes  for  yourself,  and  undiminished  esteem, 

"  I  am,  most  truly,  yours, 
(Signed)  «  R.  E.  LEE." 


The  following  letter  is  worth  preserving : 

.  "  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  6,  1866. 
"  Mr. . 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  2d  inst., 
and  am  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind  offer  to  reclaim  some  of  the 
articles  that  have  been  taken  from  Arlington  by  the  soldiers  of 
the  United  States  Army.  I  fear  this  would  be  a  task  of  great 
trouble,  and  would  not  be  attended  by  comparative  good ;  but 
any  articles  that  fall  in  your  way,  such  as  you  describe,  and  which 
can  be  returned  to  me  without  inconvenience,  I  would  be  glad 
to  get.  As  regards  the  advice  you  ask  on  the  subject  of  emi 
grating  to  Mexico  or  Brazil,  I  do  not  feel  competent  to  give  it. 
Each  individual  is  the  best  judge  of  his  own  feelings,  his  own 
conduct,  and  his  own  wants,  and  can  best  determine  such  a  ques 
tion  for  himself.  I  made  up  my  mind  on  the  subject  at  the  first 
cessation  of  hostilities.  I  considered  that  the  South  required  the 
presence  of  her  sons  more  then  than  at  any  former  part  of  her 
history,  to  sustain  and  restore  her;  that  though  many  might 
find  comfortable  homes  in  a  foreign  land,  what  would  become  of 
the  Southern  States,  and  the  citizens  who  abided  in  them  ?  I 
have,  therefore,  invariably  advised  all  who  could  remain  to  adhere 
to  their  home  and  friends  ;  and  I  have  seen  no  reason  to  change 
my  opinions.  In  answer  to  your  question  as  to  what  position  I 
hold  in  the  order  of  Masons,  I  have  to  reply  that  I  am  not  a 
Mason,  and  have  never  belonged  to  the  society.  With  my  best 
thanks  for  the  kind  sentiments  you  express  toward  me,  and  my 
sincere  wishes  for  your  future  welfare,  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "  R  E.  LEE." 


DEVOTION   TO   THE   INTERESTS   OF  THE  SOUTH  21? 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  many  similar  letters  which 
he  wrote : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  13,  1866. 
"  Mr. . 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  of  the  5th  inst.,  inclosing  a  slip 
from  the  Baltimore  American,  has  been  received.  The  same 
statement,  with  some  variation,  has  been  published  at  the  North 
for  several  years.  The  statement  is  not  true ;  but  I  have  not 
thought  proper  to  publish  a  contradiction,  being  unwilling  to 
be  drawn  into  a  newspaper  discussion,  believing  that  those  who 
know  me  would  not  credit  it,  and  those  who  do  not  would 
care  nothing  about  it. 

"  I  cannot  now  depart  from  the  rule  I  have  followed.  It  is 
so  easy  to  make  accusations  against  the  people  at  the  South 
upon  similar  testimony,  that  those  so  disposed,  should  one  be 
refuted,  will  immediately  create  another ;  and  thus  you  would 
be  led  into  endless  controversy.  I  think  it  better  to  leave  their 
correction  to  the  return  of  reason  and  good  feeling. 

"  Thanking  you  for  your  interest  in  my  behalf,  and  begging 
you  to  consider  my  letter  as  intended  only  for  yourself, 
"  I  am,  most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  was  written  to  one  of  his  oldest  and  most 

cherished  friends  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  July  9,  1866. 
"  Captain  JAMES  MAY,  Rock  Island,  III. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  was  truly  glad  to  receive  your  friendly 
letter,  after  so  many  years  of  silence  and  separation ;  and  I  re 
joice  to  read  in  it  the  expression  of  the  same  feeling  of  kindness 
and  friendship  that  characterized  our  intercourse  in  early  life.  I 
assure  you  these  feelings  are  cordially  reciprocated  by  Mrs.  Lee 
and  myself,  and  we  shall  never  forget  the  numerous  kind  acts 
extended  to  us  by  you  during  our  sojourn  in  the  West. 

"  Your  letter  deserved  and  would  have  received  an  earlier 
answer ;  but  when  it  reached  me  I  was  engaged  in  the  annual 
examination  exercises  at  Washington  College,  which  continued 
over  three  weeks,  and  since  their  termination  I  have  been  con 
tinuously  occupied  in  business  relating  to  the  institution. 


218  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

"  I  must  give  you  my  special  thanks  for  doing  me  the  justice 
to  believe  that  my  conduct  during  the  last  five  eventful  years 
has  been  governed  by  my  sense  of  duty.  I  had  no  other  guide, 
nor  had  I  any  other  object  than  the  defense  of  those  principles 
of  American  liberty  upon  which  the  constitutions  of  the  several 
States  were  originally  founded;  and,  unless  they  are  strictly 
observed,  I  fear  there  will  be  an  end  to  Republican  government 
in  this  country.  I  concur  with  you  in  opinion  as  to  the  propri 
ety  and  duty  of  all  persons  uniting  in  the  present  posture  of 
affairs  for  the  restoration  and  reconciliation  of  the  country.  I 
have  endeavored  to  pursue  this  course  myself  since  the  ces 
sation  of  hostilities,  and  have  recommended  it  to  others.  So 
far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  there  is  no  opposition  at  the  South 
to  the  General  Government.  Every  one  approves  of  the  policy 
of  President  Johnson,  gives  him  his  cordial  support,  and  would,  I 
believe,  confer  on  him  the  presidency  for  another  term,  if  it  was 
in  his  power.  I  do  not  know  what  more  you  desire,  and,  even 
if  I  possessed  the  influence  you  attribute  to  me,  how  I  could 
exercise  it  otherwise  than  as  I  have.  But  I  have  no  influence, 
and  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  take  a  more  active  part  in  public 
affairs  than  I  have  done. 

"  The  whole  attention  of  the  people  at  the  South  is  confined 
to  their  private  business.  They  have  no  influence  in  the  regu 
lation  of  public  affairs ;  and,  whatever  is  done,  must  be  accom 
plished  by  those  who  control  the  councils  of  the  country.  You 
and  your  friends  at  the  North  are  the  only  persons  who  can 
exercise  a  beneficial  influence. 

"  I  hope  the  long  years  which  have  passed  since  we  met, 
have  brought  you  nothing  but  prosperity  and  happiness,  and 
that  the  future  may  give  you  tranquillity  and  peace. 

"  I  am,  with  great  regard,  your  friend  and  servant, 
*  (Signed)  "RE.  LEE." 

The  following  is  all  that  the  most  intense  "  loyalty  "  could 
ask: 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  August  16,  1866. 

" ,  Esq.,  New  Orleans,  La. 

"Mr  DEAR  Sm:  Your  letter  of  the  9th  inst.  has  been  re 
ceived.  If  you  intend  to  reside  in  this  country,  and  wish  to  do 


DEVOTION  TO   THE   INTERESTS  OF  THE   SOUTH.  £19 

your  part  in  the  restoration  of  your  State  and  in  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  country,  which  I  think  it  the  duty  of  every  citizen 
to  do,  I  know  of  no  objection  to  your  taking  the  amnesty  oath 
which  I  have  seen.  These  considerations  induced  me  to  make 
applications  to  be  included  in  the  terms  of  the  proclamation  of 
President  Johnson  shortly  after  its  promulgation. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  is  an  emphatic  reiteration  of  his  purpose 
not  to  suffer  himself  to  be  paraded  before  the  public  or  led 
into  controversy : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  August  22,  1866. 
"  Mr.  HERBERT  SATJNDERS,  South  Kingston,  London,  England. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  SATJKDERS  :  I  received  to-day  your  letter  of 
the  31st  ult.  What  I  stated  to  you  in  conversation,  during  the 
visit  which  you  did  me  the  honor  to  pay  me  in  November  last, 
was  entirely  for  your  own  information  and  was  in  no  way  in 
tended  for  publication  ;  my  only  object  was  to  gratify  the  inter 
est  which  you  apparently  evinced  on  the  several  topics  which 
were  introduced,  and  to  point  to  facts  which  you  might  investi 
gate,  if  you  so  desired,  in  your  own  way.  I  have  an  objection  to 
the  publication  of  my  private  conversations  which  are  never  in 
tended  but  for  those  to  whom  they  are  addressed.  I  cannot, 
therefore,  without  an  entire  disregard  of  the  rule  which  I  have 
followed  in  other  cases,  and  in  violation  of  my  own  sense  of 
propriety,  assent  to  what  you  propose ;  I  hope,  therefore,  you  will 
excuse  me.  Whatever  you  may  think  proper  to  publish,  I  hope 
will  be  the  result  of  your  own  observations  and  convictions,  and 
not  on  my  authority.  In  the  hasty  perusal  which  I  have  been 
obliged  to  give  the  manuscript  inclosed  to  me,  I  perceive  many 
inaccuracies,  resulting  as  much  perhaps  from  my  imperfect  narra 
tion  as  from  misapprehension  on  your  part.  Though  fully  ap 
preciating  your  kind  wish  to  correct  certain  erroneous  state 
ments  as  regards  myself,  I  prefer  to  remain  silent  rather  than  do 
any  thing  that  might  excite  angry  discussion  at  this  time,  when 
strong  efforts  are  being  made  by  conservative  men,  North  and 
South,  to  sustain  President  Johnson  in  his  policy,  which  I  think 


220  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

offers  the  only  means  of  healing  the  lamentable  divisions  of  the 
country,  which  the  result  of  the  late  convention  at  Philadelphia 
gives  great  promise  of  doing. 

"  Thanking  you  for  the  opportunity  afforded  me  of  express 
ing  my  opinion  before  executing  your  purpose, 

"  I  am,  yours  very  truly, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  is  at  the  same  time  a  graceful  acknowl 
edgment  of  courtesy  and  an  emphatic  avowal  of  principle  : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  September  27,  1866 

"  Mr.  CHARLES  TV.  LAW,  6  Victoria  Street,  Westminster  } 
AWey,  S.  W.,  London,  England.  ^ 

11  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  letter 
of  the  17th  ult.,  inclosing  an  article  from  the  London  Standard. 
The  complimentary  remarks  of  the  letter  I  understand  as  re 
ferring  to  the  cause  in  which  I  was  engaged,  and  not  to  myself. 
The  good  opinion  of  the  English  people  as  to  the  justice  of  that 
cause,  constitutional  government,  is  highly  appreciated  by  the 
people  of  the  South ;  and  my  thanks  are  due  to  you  for  the 
sympathy  and  support  you  gave  it. 

"  Most  truly  yours, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  October  1,  1866. 

"  Mrs.  MART  E. ,  Washington  City,  D.  G. : 

"  I  have  not  found  time  till  to-day  to  reply  to  your  letter  of 
the  2d  ult.  I  regret  that  I  cannot  give  you  the  information  you 
ask  in  regard  to  the  pictures  at  Arlington.  I  have  understood 
that  those  remaining  in  the  house  have  been  moved  from  their 
former  positions,  and  I  do  not,  therefore,  recognize  them  from 
3*our  description.  I  cordially  unite  in  your  prayer  that  deeds 
of  kindness  and  forbearance  may  be  practised  toward  each  other, 
by  persons  of  all  sections  of  the  country,  and  that  the  ravages 
of  war  may  be  speedily  obliterated. 

"  Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 


DEVOTION   TO   THE   INTERESTS   OF  THE  SOUTH.  221 

The  following  indorsement  of  his  narrative  of  the  cam 
paign  of  1864  will  be  appreciated  by  the  many  friends  of  the 
distinguished  soldier  to  whom  it  is  addressed  : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  October  15,  1866. 
"  General  J.  A.  EARLY,  Toronto,  G.  W. 

"MY  DEAR  GENERAL:  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the 
narrative  forwarded  with  your  letter  of  the  4th  ult.  I  have  read 
it  with  interest,  and  have  tried  to  find  the  means  of  replying. 
Not  being  able  do  so,  I  shall  wait  no  longer ;  but  will  trust  to 
the  mail,  hoping  it  may  reach  you  safely.  Your  account  corre 
sponds  generally  with  my  recollection,  though  I  cannot  pretend 
to  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  accuracy  of  your  statements, 
without  giving  the  subject  more  investigation  than  I  have  now 
time  to  devote.  I  have  no  objection  to  the  publication  of  the 
narrative  of  your  operations  before  leaving  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia.  I  would  recommend,  however,  that,  while  giving 
facts  which  you  think  necessary  for  your  own  vindication,  you 
omit  all  epithets  or  remarks  calculated  to  excite  bitterness  or 
animosity  between  different  sections  of  the  country. 

"  With  the  most  sincere  wishes  for  your  welfare, 

"  I  am  very  truly  yours, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  will  be  read  with  deep  interest,  and  will 
go  down  to  history  in  vivid  contrast  with  the  political  ambi 
tion  of  many  others : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  4,  1867. 
"  Han.  ROBERT  OULD,  Virginia  Senate,  Richmond,  Va. 

"MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  received  to-day  your  letter  of  the  31st  ult., 
and  the  subject  to  which  it  relates  is  so  important  that,  though 
confined  to  my  room  by  indisposition,  I  reply  at  once.  I  feel 
greatly  honored  at  what  you  say  is  the  prevailing  wish  of  lead 
ing  men  in  the  State,  that  I  should  accept  the  nomination  for 
the  office  of  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  I  duly  appreciate  the 
spirit  that  has  led  them  to  name  me  for  that  high  position.  I 
candidly  confess,  however,  that  my  feelings  induce  me  to  prefer 
private  life,  which  I  think  more  suitable  to  my  condition  and 


222  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

age,  and  where  I  believe  I  can  better  advance  the  interests  of  my 
State  than  in  that  you  propose.  You  will  agree  with  me,  I  am 
sure,  in  the  opinion  that  this  is  no  time  for  the  indulgence  of 
personal  or  political  considerations  in  selecting  a  person  to  fill 
that  office  ;  nor  should  it  be  regarded  as  a  means  of  rewarding 
individuals  for  supposed  former  services.  The  welfare  of  the 
State  and  the  interests  of  her  citizens  should  be  the  only  prin 
ciple  of  selection.  Believing  that  there  are  many  men  in  the 
State  more  capable  than  I  am  of  rilling  the  position,  and  who 
could  do  more  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  people,  I  most  re 
spectfully  decline  to  be  considered  a  candidate  for  the  office. 

"  I  think  it  important,  in  selecting  a  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
Commonwealth,  for  the  citizens  to  choose  one  capable  of  fulfill 
ing  its  high  trust,  and  at  the  same  time  not  liable  to  the  miscon 
struction  which  their  choice  of  one  objectionable  to  the  General 
Government  would  be  sure  to  create,  and  thereby  increase  the 
evils  under  which  the  State  at  present  labors. 

"  I  have  no  means  of  knowing,  other  than  are  apparent  to  you, 
whether  my  election  as  Governor  of  Virginia  would  be  person 
ally  injurious  to  me  or  not,  and  therefore  the  consideration  of 
that  question  in  your  letter  has  not  been  embraced  in  my  reply. 
But  I  believe  it  would  be  used  by  the  dominant  party  to  excite 
hostility  toward  the  State,  and  to  injure  the  people  in  the  eyes 
of  the  country ;  and  I  therefore  cannot  consent  to  become  the 
instrument  of  bringing  distress  upon  those  whose  prosperity 
and  happiness  are  so  dear  to  me.  If  my  disfranchisement  and 
privation  of  civil  rights  would  secure  to  the  citizens  of  the  State 
the  enjoyment  of  civil  liberty  and  equal  rights  under  the  Con 
stitution,  I  would  willingly  accept  them  in  their  stead. 

"  What  T  have  written  is  intended  only  for  your  own  infor 
mation.  With  grateful  thanks  for  your  friendly  sentiments, 

"  I  am  very  truly  yours, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  extract  from  a  speech  delivered  in  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  by  Hon.  B.  II.  Hill,  may  be  appropriately  introduced 
here : 

"  When  the  future  historian  comes  to  survey  the  charac- 


DEVOTION  TO   THE  INTERESTS   OF  TEE  SOUTH.  223 

ter  of  Lee,  he  will  find  it  rising  like  a  huge  mountain  above 
the  undulating  plain  of  humanity,  and  he  will  have  to  lift 
his  eyes  toward  heaven  to  catch  its  summit.  He  possessed 
every  virtue  of  the  great  commanders,  without  their  vices. 
He  was  a  foe  without  hate ;  a  friend  without  treachery ;  a 
private  citizen  without  wrong  ;  a  neighbor  without  reproach ; 
a  Christian  without  hypocrisy,  and  a  man  without  guilt.  He 
was  a  Ccesar  without  his  ambition ;  a  Frederick  without  his 
tyranny ;  a  Napoleon  without  his  selfishness ;  and  a  Washing 
ton  without  his  reward.  He  was  obedient  to  authority  as  a 
servant,  and  loyal  in  authority  as  a  true  king.  He  was  gentle 
as  a  woman  in  life  ;  modest  and  pure  as  a  virgin  in  thought ; 
watchful  as  a  Koman  vestal  in  duty ;  submissive  to  law  as 
Socrates,  and  grand  in  battle  as  Achilles. 

"  There  were  many  peculiarities  in  the  habits  and  charac 
ter  of  Lee  which  are  but  little  known,  and  may  be  studied 
with  profit.  He  studiously  avoided  giving  opinions  upon 
subjects  which  it  had  not  been  his  calling  or  training  to  in 
vestigate  ;  and  sometimes  I  thought  he  carried  this  great  vir 
tue  too  far.  Neither  the  President,  nor  Congress,  nor  friends, 
could  get  his  views  upon  any  public  question  not  strictly 
military,  and  no  man  had  as  much  quiet,  unobtrusive  con 
tempt  for  what  he  called  (  military  statesmen  and  political 
generals.'  Meeting  him  once  on  the  streets  of  Richmond,  I 
said  to  him,  <  General,  I  wish  you  would  give  us  your  opinion 
as  to  the  propriety  of  changing  the  seat  of  government  and 
going  farther  south.' 

" 4  That  is  a  political  question,  Mr.  Hill,  and  you  politicians 
must  determine  it ;  I  shall  endeavor  to  take  care  of  the  army, 
and  you  must  make  the  laws  and  control  the  government.' 

"  '  Ah,  general,'  I  said,  '  but  you  will  have  to  change 
that  rule,  and  form  and  express  political  opinions ;  for,  if  we 
establish  our  independence,  the  people  will  make  you  Mr. 
Davis' s  successor.' 

"  c  Never,  sir,'  he  replied  with  a  firm  dignity  that  be 
longed  only  to  Lee.  (  That  I  will  never  permit.  Whatever 


224  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

talents  I  may  possess  (and  they  are  but  limited)  are  military 
talents.  My  education  and  training  are  military.  I  think 
the  military  and  civil  talents  are  distinct,  if  not  different,  and 
full  duty  in  either  sphere  is  about  as  much  as  one  man  can 
qualify  himself  to  perform.  I  shall  not  do  the  people  the 
injustice  to  accept  high  civil  office  with  whose  questions  it 
has  not  been  my  business  to  become  familiar.' 

" '  Well,  but  general,5  I  insisted,  <  history  does  not  sus 
tain  your  view.  Caesar,  and  Frederick  of  Prussia,  and  Bona 
parte,  were  great  statesmen,  as  well  as  great  generals.' 

"  '  And  great  tyrants,'  he  promptly  responded.  1 1  speak 
of  the  proper  rule  in  republics,  where,  I  think,  we  should 
have  neither  military  statesmen  nor  political  generals.' 

"  t  But  Washington  was  both,  and  yet  not  a  tyrant,'  I  re 
peated. 

"  And  with  a  beautiful  smile  he  said,  '  Washington  was 
an  exception  to  all  rule,  and  there  was  none  like  him.' 

"  I  could  find  no  words  to  answer  further,  but  instantly 
I  said  in  thought  "  Surely  Washington  is  no  longer  the  only 
exception,  for  one  like  him,  if  not  even  greater,  is  here.' " 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  20,  1867. 
"  Mr.  FRANK  FULLER,  57  Broadway,  New  York  City,  N.  Y. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  hasten  to  return  my  thanks  for  your  invi 
tation  to  deliver  a  lecture  before  the  Peabody  Institute  of  New 
York  and  Brooklyn,  and  am  much  indebted  to  you  for  the  mo 
tives  which  prompted  it.  For  reasons  which  I  am  sure  you  can 
appreciate,  I  have  felt  great  reluctance  to  appear  before  the 
public  in  any  manner,  and  do  not  think  that  I  could  accomplish 
any  good  by  departing  from  this  course.  My  opinions  would 
have  no  influence  in  correcting  the  misunderstanding  which  has 
existed  between  the  North  and  South,  and  which  I  fear  is  still 
destined  to  involve  the  country  in  greater  calamities.  Apart 
from  these  considerations,  my  present  duties  occupy  all  my  time, 
and  I  am  unable  to  neglect  them  without  inconvenience  to  others. 
I  am  therefore  obliged  respectfully  to  decline  your  invitation. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "R.E.  LEE." 


DEVOTION   TO   THE   INTERESTS  OF  THE  SOUTH.  225 

The  following,  to  a  lady  of  his  acquaintance,  will  be  read 
with  interest : 

"  LEXINGTON,  YA.,  May  21,  1867. 
«  Mrs. ,  Petersburg,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS. :  I  regret  that  I  have  not  been  able  to 

reply  sooner  to  your  kind  letter ;  but  my  duties  are  so  constant 
and  my  correspondence  so  large,  that  I  am  unable  to  keep  pace 
with  their  demands.  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  from  you,  and  hope 
that  your  family  are  all  well.  My  thoughts  often  revert  to  the 
good  people  of  your  city,  and  I  shall  never  cease  to  sympathize 
in  every  thing  that  concerns  them.  The  present  condition  of  af 
fairs  is,  as  you  state,  calculated  to  create  much  anxiety,  but  not 
sufficient,  in  my  opinion,  to  cause  us  to  despond,  or  to  cease  in 
our  effort  to  direct  events  to  a  favorable  issue.  It  is  difficult  to 
see  now  what  course  will  lead  certainly  to  that  end,  and  I  cannot 
pretend  to  advise,  as  you  suggest,  those  better  qualified  to  judge 
than  myself.  But  I  know  that  in  pursuing  the  path  dictated  by 
prudence  and  wisdom,  and  in  endeavoring  honestly  to  accomplish 
what  is  right,  the  darkness  which  overshadows  our  political  hori 
zon  will  be  dissipated,  and  the  true  course  to  pursue  will,  as  we 
advance,  become  visible  and  clear.  I  think,  however,  it  must 
now  be  apparent  to  every  one  who  reflects,  that  all  who  are  not 
disfranchised  by  the  present  laws  should  qualify  themselves  to 
vote  at  the  approaching  elections,  and  unite  in  selecting  the  best 
available  men  to  represent  them  in  the  required  convention. 
Whatever  the  convention  may  then  adopt  as  the  best  under  the 
circumstances  for  the  people  and  State,  irrespective  of  individuals, 
should  then  be  accepted  and  carried  out  in  good  faith.  Although 
their  decision  may  not  be  considered  at  the  time  as  the  most  ad 
vantageous,  it  should -be  recollected  that  it  can  be  improved  as 
opportunity  offers,  and  in  the  end  I  trust  all  things  will  work  to 
gether  for  our  good. 

"  Above  all,  I  think  there  should  be  harmony  and  good  feel 
ing  between  all  citizens,  and  no  division  into  parties,  but  all 
should  unite  for  the  common  good.  For  reasons  which  I  think 
you  will  understand  and  appreciate,  I  have  a  great  reluctance  to 
appear  before  the  public  in  any  manner.  I  think  no  good  would 
result  from  it,  and  I  must,  therefore,  ask  you  to  consider  my  let- 
15 


226  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

ter  as  private.     Please  present  me  most  kindly  to  Mr.  W— 
and  all  the  members  of  your  household,  and  say  to  your  kind 

neighbors,  the  M s,  B ,  and  B s,  that  I  wish  much  to 

see  them. 

"  Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

"  E.  E.  LEE." 

The  following,  to  one  of  the  most  gallant  soldiers  and  de 
voted  patriots  in  the  South,  has  been  published  in  the  news 
papers,  but  is  worth  preserving  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  23,  1867. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  I  was  very  glad  to  hear,  from  your  let 
ter  of  last  month,  the  prosperous  condition  of  the  Southern  Hos 
pital  Association,  and  the  relief  that  has  already  been  aiforded 
to  disabled  and  needy  men.  I  trust  that,  as  our  political  troubles 
are  reconciled,  and  business  becomes  reestablished  and  extended 
in  the  South,  the  sufferings  of  all  may  be  relieved.  I  feel  as 
sured  that,  under  the  present  management  of  the  association, 
all  will  be  done  that  can  be  done,  and  those  who  are  devoting 
their  time  and  energies  to  this  praiseworthy  work  will  receive 
from  posterity,  as  well  as  from  the  present  generation,  the  thanks 
which  are  due. 

"  As  regards  the  course  Virginia  may  take  under  the  recent 
laws  of  Congress,  to  which  you  refer,  it  is  difficult  to  see  what 
may  eventually  be  the  best.  I  think,  though,  it  is  plain,  in  the 
execution  of  the  laws,  that  a  convention  will  be  called,  and  a 
State  constitution  formed.  The  question,  then,  is,  Shall  the 
members  of  the  convention  be  selected  from  the  best  available 
men  in  the  State,  or  from  the  worst  ?  Shall  the  machinery  of  the 
State  government  be  arranged  and  set  in  motion  by  the  former 
or  by  the  latter  ?  In  this  view  of  the  case,  I  think  it  is  the  duty 
of  all  citizens  not  disfranchised  to  qualify  themselves  to  vote, 
attend  the  polls,  and  elect  the  best  men  in  their  power.  Judge 
Underwood,  Messrs.  Botts,  Hunnicut,  etc.,  would  be  well  pleased, 
I  presume,  if  the  business  were  left  to  them  and  the  negroes. 
But  I  do  not  think  this  course  would  be  either  for  the  interest  of 
the  State  or  country.  When  the  convention  assemble,  it  will 


DEVOTION  TO   THE   INTERESTS   OF  THE   SOUTH.          227 

be  for  them  to  determine  what,  under  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  it  will  be  best  for  the  people  to  do,  and  their  decision 
should  be  submitted  to  by  all,  as  the  decision  of  the  State.  I 
look  upon  the  Southern  people  as  acting  under  compulsion,  not 
of  their  free  choice,  and  that  it  is  their  duty  to  consult  the  best 
interests  of  their  States  as  far  as  may 'be  in  their  power  to  do. 

u  I  hope  that  all  our  friends  in  New  Orleans  may  do  well,  and 
that  each  may  succeed  in  the  business  which  he  has  under 
taken.  Every  man  must  now  look  closely  to  his  own  affairs,  and 
depend  upon  his  own  good  sense  and  judgment  to  push  them  on 
ward.  We  have  but  little  to  do  with  general  politics.  We  can 
not  control  them,  but,  by  united  efforts,  harmony,  prudence,  and 
wisdom,  we  may  shape  and  regulate  our  domestic  policy. 

"  Please  present  my  kindest  regards  to  Generals  Beauregard, 
Longstreet,  Hood,  Buckner,  and  all  friends. 

"  Wishing  you  every  happiness,  I  am  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  To  General  D.  H.  MAURY." 

The  following  explains  itself,  and  is  most  significant  as 
showing  that,  while  fully  "  accepting  the  situation,"  he  could 
by  no  means  approve  of  the  course  of  Southern  men  who 
have  united  with  the  dominant  party  : 

"  LEXINGTON,' VA.,  October  29,  1867. 
u  General  J.  LONGSTREET,  21  Carondelet  Street,  New  Orleans,  La. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  When  I  received  your  letter  of  the 
8th  of  June,  I  had  just  returned  from  a  short  trip  to  Bedford 
County,  and  was  preparing  for  a  more  extended  visit  to  the 
White  Sulphur  Springs  for  the  benefit  of  Mrs.  Lee's  health.  As 
I  could  not  write  such  a  letter  as  you  desired,  and  as  you  stated 
that  you  woulcf  leave  New  Orleans  for  Mexico  in  a  week  from 
the  time  you  wrote,  to  be  absent  some  months,  I  determined  to 
delay  my  reply  till  my  return.  Although  I  have  been  here  more 
than  a  month,  I  have  been  so  occupied  by  necessary  business, 
and  so  incommoded  by  the  effects  of  an  attack  of  sickness,  from 
which  I  have  not  yet  recovered,  that  this  is  the  first  day  that  I 
have  been  able  to  write  to  you. 


228  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  I  have  avoided  all  discussion  of  political  questions  since 
the  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  have,  in  my  own  conduct,  and  in 
my  recommendations  to  others,  endeavored  to  conform  to  exist 
ing  circumstances.  I  consider  this  the  part  of  wisdom  as  well 
as  of  duty  ;  but,  while  I  think  we  should  act  under  the  law  and 
according  to  the  law  imposed  upon  us",  I  cannot  think  the  course 
pursued  by  the  dominant  political  party  the  best  for  the  inter 
ests  of  the  country,  and  therefore  cannot  say  so,  or  give  them 
my  approval.  This  is  the  reason  why  I  could  not  comply  witii 
the  request  in  your  letter.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  all  who 
can,  should  vote  for  the  most  intelligent,  honest,  and  conscien 
tious  men  eligible  to  office,  irrespective  of  former  party  opinions, 
who  will  endeavor  to  make  the  ne,w  constitutions  and  the  laws 
passed  under  them  as  beneficial  as  possible  to  the  true  interests, 
prosperity,  and  liberty  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  the  people. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  your  health  and  happiness,  and 
my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Lorigstreet  and  your  children,  I  am 
with  great  regard,  and  very  truly  and  sincerely  yours, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 


It  may  be  added  in  this  connection,  that  he  was  accus 
tomed  sometimes  to  express  himself  in  terms  of  strongest 
condemnation  of  the  injustice  done  the  South  by  some  of 
the  ultra  measures  of  Congress.  In  a  word,  he  never  ceased 
to  be  a  Yirginian  and  a  Southron. 

The  following  is  in  reply  to  one  of  many  similar  letters 
which  he  received : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  20,  1868. 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM  :  I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the 
15th  inst.,  and  am  glad  to  learn  of  the  interest  felt  by  yourself 
and  friends  in  the  welfare  of  the  South,  and  hope  that  your 
kind  efforts  to  relieve  the  suffering  among  its  people  may  be 
successful. 

"  I  think  you  need  feel  no  hesitation  in  calling  upon  any  of 
the  citizens  of  the  cities  which  you  propose  to  visit,  for  informa 
tion  or  aid  to  enable  you  to  administer  relief  to  the  distressed ; 
and  I  feel  assured  that  your  charitable  errand  will  be  commended 


DEVOTION  TO   THE   INTERESTS   OF  THE  SOUTH.          229 

by  the  benevolent,  and  that  you  will  receive  a  cordial  welcome 
from  your  former  pupils  and  acquaintances. 

"  Such  great  changes  have  occurred  in  the  condition  of  South 
ern  families,  that  I  am  at  a  loss  to  designate  those  whose  hospi 
tality  it  might  be  agreeable  to  you  to  accept,  or  convenient  to 
them  to  extend ;  but,  should  you  experience  any  embarrassment 
on  your  arrival  in  Richmond,  you  caii  safely  go  to  any  of  the 
principal  hotels,  and  I  feel  certain  that  Mr.  Carrington,  of  the 
Exchange,  or  Mr.  Ballard,  of  the  Ballard  House,  would  do  every 
thing  in  his  power  to  promote  your  comfort  and  convenience. 

"  Among  the  gentlemen  to  whom  you  could  apply  for  any 
information  you  might  want,  I  can  refer  you  to  Messrs.  James 
Lyons  and  Win.  H.  MacFarland,  and  the  Rev.  Drs.  Hoge  and 
Minnegerode.  Should  you  continue  your  journey  to  Wilming 
ton  and  Charleston,  as  you  intimate,  Mr.  George  Davis,  of  the 
former  city,  and  Mr.  C.  C.  Meminger,  of  the  latter,  could  give  you 
useful  information  and  assistance. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  your  safe  journey  and  successful 
mission,  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  letter  shows  that  he  appreciated  his  legal 
rights,  and  purposed  at  a  proper  time  to  maintain  them  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  13,  1869. 
"  Hon.  J.  S.  BLACK,  Washington  C%,  D.  C. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  received  this  morning  a  letter  from  my 
friend  Captain  James  May,  informing  me  of  the  kind  interest 
you  expressed  in  my  welfare,  and  of  the  generous  offer  of  your 
professional  services  for  the  restoration  of  the  property  belong 
ing  to  the  estate  of  Mr.  G.  W.  P.  Custis,  which  was  sold  by  the 
Government  during  the  late  war. 

"I  am  deeply  sensible  of  your  kindness,  and  return  my 
grateful  thanks  to  you  for  your  offer  of  assistance,  which  at  the 
proper  time  I  hope  it  may  be  convenient  for  you  to  give.  You 
have  been  made  aware  by  the  papers  in  Captain  May's  posses 
sion,  that  I  am  not  directly  interested  in  this  property,  except 
as  the  executor  of  Mr.  Custis.  It  will  never  be  of  any  value  to 


230  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

me,  but  I  desire  to  turn  it  over  to  the  rightful  heir.  I  have  not 
as  yet  taken  any  steps  in  the  matter,  under  the  belief  that  I 
could  accomplish  no  good,  nor  do  I  wish  now  to  do  so,  unless  in 
your  opinion  some  benefit  would  result  from  it. 

"  Mr.  Francis  L.  Smith,  of  Alexandria,  my  friend  and  coun 
sel  before  the  war,  is  acquainted  with  all  the  circumstances  of 
Mr.  Custis's  estate,  and  will  be  happy  to  give  you  any  informa 
tion  you  may  at  any  time  desire,  or  to  procure  you  any  evidence 
you  may  require. 

"  I  hope  some  day  that  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
you  again,  and  of  renewing  the  friendly  intercourse  that  for 
merly  existed,  and  of  thanking  you  in  person  for  your  kindness 
and  consideration. 

"  With  great  respect,  I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following,  written  soon  after  the  action  of  Con 
gress,  preventing  the  execution  of  an  order  to  restore  the 
Arlington  relics,  fully  explains  itself  : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  29,  1869. 
u  Hon.  THOMAS  LAWKENOE  JONES,  Washington  City,  D.  C. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIK  :  I  beg  to  be  allowed  to  tender  you  my  sin 
cere  thanks  for  your  efforts  to  have  restored  to  Mrs.  Lee  certain 
family  relics  in  the  Patent-Office  in  Washington.  The  facts  re 
lated  in  your  speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the 
3d  inst.,  so  far  as  known  to  me,  are  correct ;  and,  had  I  conceived 
the  view  taken  of  the  matter  by  Congress,  I  would  have  endeav 
ored  to  have  dissuaded  Mrs.  Lee  from  applying  for  them.  It 
may  be  a  question  with  some  whether  the  retention  of  these 
articles  is  more  "  an  insult,"  in  the  language  of  the  Committee 
on  Public  Buildings,  "  to  the  loyal  people  of  the  United  States," 
than  their  restoration ;  but  of  this  I  am  willing  that  they  should 
be  the  judge ;  and,  since  Congress  has  decided  to  keep  them, 
she  must  submit. 

"  Her  thanks  to  you,  sir,  however,  are  not  the  less  fervent 
for  your  kind  intercession  in  her  behalf;  and,  with  highest  re 
gards,  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant,  R  E.  LEE." 


DEVOTION  TO  THE   INTERESTS   OF  THE   SOUTH.  231 

The  following  is  one  of  many  similar  letters  which,  al 
though  never  published,  exerted  a  most  potent  influence  upon 
public  sentiment  in  •Virginia  and  the  South  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  YA.,  June  11,  1869. 

"  Major . 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  has  been  received.  I  have  great 
reluctance  to  speak  on  political  subjects,  because  I  am  entirely 
withdrawn  from  their  consideration,  and  therefore  mistrust  my 
own  judgment.  I  have,  however,  said,  in  conversation  with 
friends,  that,  if  I  was  entitled  to  vote,  I  should  vote  for  the  ex 
cision  of  the  obnoxious  clauses  of  the  proposed  constitution,  and 
for  the  election  of  the  most  conservative  eligible  candidates  for 
Congress  and  the  Legislature.  I  believe  this  course  offers  the 
best  prospect  for  the  solution  of  the  difficulties  in  which  the 
State  is  involved,  accessible  to  us.  I  think  all  who  can  should 
register  and  vote.  Very  truly  yours,  R  E.  LEE." 

The  following  shows  his  deep  interest  in  all  that  3oncerns 
the  material  prosperity  of  the  South : 

"  LEXINGTON,  YA.,  September  14,  1869. 
"  Colonel  BLANTOX  DUNCAN,  CTiairman  Committee  ) 
of  Arrangements,  Louisville,  Ky.  ] 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  invitation 
to  attend  as  an  honorary  member  of  the  Commercial  Convention, 
to  assemble  at  Louisville  on  the  12th  of  October  next.  The 
important  measures  proposed  to  be  considered  by  the  conven 
tion  will  attract  the  earnest  attention  of  the  whole  country,  and, 
I  feel  assured,  will  receive  the  calm  deliberation  which  so  mo 
mentous  a  subject  as  the  advancement  of  the  interests  of  all  the 
States,  the  development  of  the  wealth  and  resources  of  each,  re 
quires  from  American  citizens.  If  we  turn  to  the  first  history  of 
the  country  and  compare  our  material  condition  with  that  of 
our  forefathers,  when  they  bravely  undertook,  in  the  face  of  the 
difficulties  which  surrounded  them,  its  organization  and  estab 
lishment,  it  would  seem  to  be  an  easy  task  for  us  to  revive  what 
may  be  depressed,  and  to  encourage  what  may  be  languishing 
in  all  the  walks  of  life.  We  shall  find  it  easy,  if  we  cherish 


232  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

the  same  principles  and  practise  the  same  virtues  which  governed 
them.  Every  man  must,  however,  do  his  part  in  this  great 
work.  He  must  carry  into  the  administration  of  his  affairs  in 
dustry,  fidelity,  and  economy,  and  apply  the  knowledge  taught 
by  science  to  the  promotion  of  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  all 
industrial  pursuits.  As  individuals  prosper,  communities  will 
become  rich,  and  the  avenues  and  depots,  required  by  trade  and 
commerce,  will  be  readily  constructed.  In  my  particular  sphere 
I  have  to  attend  to  my  proper  business,  which  occupies  so  much 
of  my  attention  that  I  have  but  little  time  to  devote  to  other 
things.  I  am  unable,  therefore,  to  accept  your  kind  invitation, 
but  I  am  happy  in  the  belief  that  the  enlightened  delegates  that 
will  be  present  at  the  convention  will  do  all  that  can  be  done 
for  the  good  of  the  country.  Thanking  you  for  the  kind  manner 
in  which  your  invitation  has  been  extended,  I  am,  with  great 
respect,  your  obedient  servant,  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  shows  how  widely  his  opinions  were 
sought,  and  how  far  his  influence  extended : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  6,  1870. 
"DUNLAP  SOOTT,  Esq.,  Georgia  Legislature,  Macon,  Ga. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  of  the  3d  has  been  received.  I  am 
very  sorry  for  the  new  difficulties  in  which  Georgia  is  involved, 
but  hope  that  the  united  wisdom  and  prudence  of  her  Legislature 
may  decide  upon  a  course  that  will  relieve  her.  What  that 
course  shall  be  I  cannot  pretend  to  say.  The  members  of  the 
Legislature  can  alone  decide.  The  responsibility  rests  solely 
upon  them,  and  they  have  at  heart  the  true  interests  of  the  State 
with  that  of  all  her  people.  If  you  will  act  in  accordance  with 
the  dictates  of  your  conscience,  to  the  best  of  your  judgment, 
and  for  the  whole  interests  of  your  State,  in  her  present  emer 
gency,  unbiased  by  selfish  or  party  considerations,  you  will  do 
right.  Thanking  you  for  your  kind  expressions  of  regard  and 
esteem,  I  am  very  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

Additional  interest  is  added  to  the  following  letter  by 
the  death  of  the  distinguished  gentleman  to  whom  it  is  ad- 


DEVOTION   TO   THE   INTERESTS  OF  THE   SOUTH.          233 

dressed,  and  by  the  fact  that  it  is  among  the  last  letters  of 
this  character  which  General  Lee  ever  wrote : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  3,  1870. 
"Hon.  JAMES  M.  MASON,  Alexandria,  Va. 

"MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  25th  ult., 
and  still  more  for  the  kind  feelings  which  prompted  it.  I  rarely 
read  newspaper  articles  about  myself,  and  feel  more  humbled 
by  the  praise  of  my  friends  (knowing  how  little  I  merit  it)  than 
the  censure  of  my  enemies.  The  one  seems  to  me  to  be  as  dis 
tant  from  the  truth  as  the  other.  I  desired  to  write  to  you 
upon  your  return  to  Virginia  to  express  my  pleasure  at  the 
event,  and,  but  that  I  hoped  to  have  soon  seen  you,  should  have 
done  so.  I  have  been  so  much  indisposed  this  winter  that  I 
have  not  been  able  to  go  anywhere,  and  my  regular  avocations 
employed  all  the  time  I  could  devote  to  them.  I  hope,  should 
you  visit  the  mountains  this  summer,  that  you  will  come  to 
Lexington  to  see  us.  I  do  not  know  that  I  will  leave  here,  but 
whenever  I  go  to  Alexandria  I  shall  take  great  pleasure  in  see 
ing  you. 

"  I  desired  to  attend  Mr.  Peabody's  funeral,  simply  to  show 
my  respect  for  a  man  whom  Americans  might  justly  honor,  and, 
had  I  felt  able  to  undertake  the  journey  at  that  inclement 
season,  I  should  have  gone  for  that  single  purpose.  When  I 
saw  the  protracted  parade  and  lingering  ceremony  which  was 
practised  on  the  occasion,  so  opposed  to  my  feelings  of  sorrow 
and  resignation,  I  regretted  less  my  inability  to  attend.  Please 
present  my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Mason,  your  daughters  and 
family,  in  which  Mrs.  Lee  and  my  family  cordially  unite. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  your  health  and  happiness, 
I  am  most  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

So  careful  was  Geneial  Lee  to  observe  scrupulously  the 
terms  of  his  parole,  and  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of  po 
litical  entanglements  of  every  kind,  that  he  refused  to  attend 
all  public  meetings  which  had  any  bearing  upon  the  war  or 
the  political  status  of  the  country. 

At  the  Virginia  Springs,  in  1869,  a  meeting  was  called  to 


234  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

aid  the  scheme  of  Rev.  Dr.  W.  F.  Broaddus  for  the  educa 
tion  of  the  orphans  of  Yirginia  soldiers.  General  Lee  sym 
pathized  most  heartily  with  this  enterprise,  and  with  the 
judicious  manner  in  which  it  was  conducted ;  he  had  frequent 
conferences  and  correspondence  with  Dr.  Broaddus  concern 
ing  it,  and  was  accustomed  every  year  to  make  most  liberal 
contributions  to  the  object.  Yet  he  refused  to  attend  this 
meeting — assigning  as  a  reason  that  he  desired  to  avoid  all 
public  gatherings  that  had  any  thing  to  do  with  the  war. 
Upon  the  same  principle  he  refused  to  attend  the  "  Gettys 
burg  Identification  "  meeting,  and  wrote  a  letter  in  which  he 
said:  "I  THINK  IT  WISEST  NOT  TO  KEEP  OPEN  THE  SORES  OF 

WAR,  BUT  TO  FOLLOW  THE  EXAMPLE  OF  THOSE  NATIONS  WHO 
ENDEAVORED  TO  OBLITERATE  THE  MARKS  OF  CIVIL  STRIFE,  AND 
TO  COMMIT  TO  OBLIVION  THE  FEELINGS  IT  ENGENDERED." 

King  William  of  Prussia  has  been  justly  eulogized  for  for 
bidding  the  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  Sadowa,  "  that 
he  might  not  wound  the  feelings  of  any  German  people." 
But  nobler  still  is  the  conduct  of  this  great  leader  of  a  "  Lost 
Cause,"  who  would  suppress  natural  resentment  against  suc 
cessful  wrong,  forget  the  afflictions  of  the  people  he  loved 
so  well,  and,  instead  of  cherishing  hatred  against  the  enemies 
who  had  triumphed  over  the  liberties  of  his  country,  would 
seek  to  heal  "  the  sores  of  war,"  and  "  to  commit  to  oblivion 
the  feelings  it  engendered." 

And  yet  this  noble  man  died  "  a  prisoner  of  war  on  pa 
role" — his  application  for  "amnesty"  was  never  granted, 
or  even  noticed — and  the  commonest  privileges  of  citizen 
ship  which  are  accorded  to  the  most  ignorant  negro  were  de 
nied  to  this  Icing  of  men. 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

HIS    SOCIAL    CHARACTER. 

GENERAL  LEE  had  a  quiet  dignity  which  forbade  all  un 
due  familiarity,  and  those  who  only  saw  him  amid  the  press 
ing  cares  of  the  war  might  call  him  "  reserved  ;  "  but  in  the 
social  circle  there  was  about  him  a  charming  affability  and 
courtesy  which  won  the  hearts  of  all  who  had  the  privilege 
of  meeting  him  thus. 

It  is  related  that,  during  one  of  his  great  marches,  a  plain 
old  farmer  started  out  from  home  with  the  full  purpose  of 
seeing  General  Lee.  Riding  up  to  a  bivouac-fire  around 
which  some  officers  were  gathered,  he  was  so  courteously  re 
ceived  by  a  plainly-dressed  "  colonel "  that  he  forgot  his 
special  mission  and  accepted  an  invitation  to  join  the  group. 
Presently  he  turned  to  his  polite  "  colonel,"  and,  expressing 
his  great  desire  to  see  General  Lee,  was  very  much  astonished 
at  the  quiet  reply,  "  I  am  General  Lee,  and  I  am  most 
happy  to  have  met  you." 

Even  amid  his  pressing  duties  at  the  college  he  found 
time  to  be  the  most  thoroughly  polite  gentleman  in  the  com 
munity.  He  seemed  to  think  himself  called  on  to  visit  all 
strangers  who  came  to  Lexington,  and  frequently  surprised 
and  delighted  them  by  his  unexpected  courtesy.  How  often 
have  I  seen  him  in  the  stores  and  shops  of  the  town,  chatting 
pleasantly  with  every  comer,  or  walking  a  mile  through  mud 
or  snow  to  call  on  some  humble  family,  who  will  hand  it 


230  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

down  as  an  event  in  their  history  that  they  had  a  visit  from 
General  Lee ! 

His  house  was  the  abode  of  real "  old  Virginia  hospi 
tality,"  and  many  visitors  to  Lexington  will  now  recall  with 
sad  pleasure  the  grace  and  dignity  with  which  they  were 
welcomed  to  that  model  home. 

Quiet  and  unobtrusive,  a  good  listener,  and  always  ready 
to  allow  others  to  lead  the  conversation,  General  Lee  was 
yet  possessed  of  very  fine  conversational  powers,  and  showed 
the  greatest  tact  in  adapting  himself  to  the  tastes  of  his 
guests  and  making  them  feel  at  home.  A  plain  farmer  upon 
whose  lands  our  troops  were  once  camped  told  the  writer 
that  he  had  less  difficulty  in  gaining  access  to  General  Lee, 
was  treated  by  him  with  far  more  courtesy  and  felt  more  at 
home  in  his  tent,  than  with  certain  quartermasters  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact. 

In  the  spring  of  1869  an  old  gentleman,  who  was  so  deaf 
that  it  was  exceedingly  difficult  to  converse  with  him,  called 
one  evening  at  General  Lee's  house.  The  room  was  full  of 
company,  but  the  general  took  his  seat  beside  his  deaf  visitor, 
talked  to  him  with  apparent  ease,  chose  such  topics  as  he 
was  familiar  with,  and  conducted  the  conversation  with  such 
tact  that  the  old  gentleman  went  away  charmed  with  his 
visit. 

General  Lee  rarely  forgot  a  face  or  a  name.  I  have  seen 
him  frequently  recognize  at  once  some  old  soldier  whom  he 
had  barely  met  during  the  war,  and  who  would  be  as  sur 
prised  as  delighted  that  his  loved  commander  had  not  for 
gotten  him.  He  knew  by  name  nearly  all  of  the  ladies  and 
children  of  Lexington  and  the  viciijity,  and  seemed  worried 
if  he  ever  met  one  whom  he  failed  to  recognize.  I  remem 
ber  seeing  him  once  at  a  public  gathering,  very  much  annoyed 
at  not  knowing  a  young  lady  present,  until  he  learned  by 
diligent  inquiry  that  she  was  a  stranger  who  had  just  reached 
town  that  evening.  The  only  occasion  upon  which  I  ever 
knew  him  to  fail  to  recognize  an  old  acquaintance  was  under 


HIS   SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  237 

the  following  circumstances :  Seeing  the  general  one  morning 
coming  down  to  the  chapel  with  a  gentleman  who  was  evi 
dently  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  I  purposely  threw  myself  in 
the  way  in  order  that  I  might  be  introduced,  and  thus  have 
opportunity  to  ask  him  to  officiate  in  my  place  at  the  chapel 
service.  Noticing  that  in  the  introduction  the  general  called 
my  own  name,  but  did  not  call  that  of  the  visitor,  I  said  : 
"  Excuse  me,  general,  but  I  did  not  hear  the  name."  With 
the  inimitable  grace  peculiar  to  him,  he  replied  :  "  It  is  time 
for  us  to  go  in  to  the  service."  As  I  came  down  from  the 
pulpit  the  general  (whose  seat,  by-the-way,  was  always  near 
the  front)  met  me  and  said :  "  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  sir,  that 
I  do  not  know  the  name  of  that  gentleman.  And  I  am  so 
sure  that  I  ought  to  know  him  that  I  should  be  sorry  for 
him  to  find  out  that  I  do  not  recognize  him.  I  wish  that 
you  would  ascertain  his  name."  I  immediately  approached 
the  gentleman,,  told  him  that  I  did  not  hear  his  name  when 
introduced,  and  thus  got  him  to  give  it.  The  general,  who 
had  followed  within  ear-shot,  at  once  stepped  up  and  began 
to  introduce  the  gentleman  to  all  around.  The  next  day  he 
said  to  me :  "  I  was  really  very  much  ashamed  at  not  know 
ing  that  gentleman  yesterday ;  I  ought  to  have  recognized 
him  at  once.  He  spent  at  least  an  hour  in  my  quarters  in 
the  city  of  Mexico  just  after  its  occupation  by  the  American 
army,  and,  although  I  have  never  seen  him  since  (and  had 
never  seen  him  before),  he  made  a  very  agreeable  impression 
upon  me,  and  I  ought  not  to  have  forgotten  him." 

I  never  saw  General  Lee's  courtesy  desert  him  for  a  mo 
ment,  even  amid  the  most  trying  circumstances. 

His  uniform  courtesy  and  kindness  were  sometimes  abused 
by  thoughtless  visitors  who  obtruded  upon  him  at  unseason 
able  hours,  and  still  more  by  letters  which  flooded  his  mails, 
and  to  which  he  was  very  careful  to  reply.  While  at  Washing 
ton  College  he  received  bushels  of  letters  from  all  sorts  of 
people  on  all  sorts  of  subjects,  and  would  worry  himself  to 
reply  to  them,  when  most  men  would  have  passed  them  by 


238  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

in  silence.  He  one  day  showed  the  writer  a  letter  from  a 
distressed  damsel  in  St.  Louis,  who  said  that  her  lover  had 
been  a  soldier,  "  either  in  Mr.  Lee's  or  Mr.  Johnston's  army  " 
— that  she  had  not  heard  from  him  since  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  that  his  family  reported  him  dead,  but  she  believed  that 
this  was  only  a  trick  on  their  part,  to  prevent  him  from  mar 
rying  her.  She  wrote  to  beg  that  "  Mr.  Lee  "  would  write 
her  if  he  knew  any  thing  of  him,  and,  if  he  did  not,  that  he 
would  write  for  her  to  "  Mr.  Johnston,"  to  see  if  he  could 
give  her  any  information.  General  Lee  made  the  most  diligent 
inquiries  after  the  man  in  question,  saying  that  he  "  would  be 
very  glad  to  relieve  the  poor  woman  if  he  could,"  and,  after 
all  of  his  inquiries  proved  futile,  he  wrote  her  a  kind  letter 
of  sympathy. 

He  received  many  letters  from  Federal  officers,  newspaper 
men,  etc.,  and  the  mingled  courtesy,  tact,  and  quiet  humor 
with  which  he  would  reply,  would  form  a  most  interesting 
chapter  if  it  were  proper  to  publish  the  letters  in  full. 

I  cannot,  however,  refrain  from  giving  the  following  ver 
batim  copy  of  a  reply  to  a  distinguished  Federal  general,  who 
wrote  to  propound  to  him  certain  questions  which  are  plainly 
indicated  in  General  Lee's  answer  : 

"LEXINGTON,  YA.,  January  18,  1869. 

"  DEAR  SIK  :  A  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  4th  inst.  would  re 
quire  more  time  than  I  can  devote  to  it,  and  lead  to  a  discussion 
of  military  affairs  from  which,  for  reasons  that  will  occur  to  you, 
I  hope  that  you  will  excuse  me. 

"  I  will,  therefore,  only  say  that  the  failure  of  the  Confederate 
army  at  Gettysburg  was  owing  to  a  combination  of  circumstances, 
but  for  which  success  might  have  been  reasonably  expected. 

"  It  is  presumed  that  General  Burnside  had  good  reasons  for 
fiis  move  from  Warrenton  to  Fredericksburg ;  and,  as  far  as  I 
am  able  to  judge,  the  earlier  arrival  of  his  pontoons  at  Aquia 
Creek  would  not  have  materially  changed  the  result.  Their  ap 
pearance  would  only  have  produced  an  earlier  concentration  of 
the  Confederate  army  at  Fredericksburg.  As  regards  General 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  239 

McClellan,  I  have  always  entertained  a  high  opinion  of  his  ca 
pacity,  and  have  no  reason  to  think  that  he  omitted  to  do  any 
thing  that  was  in  his  power. 

"  It  is  difficult  for  me  to  say  what  success  would  have  at 
tended  the  execution  of  your  plan  of  moving  the  Federal  army 
to  Aquia  Creek,  after  its  attack  on  Fredericksburg,  and  of 
threatening  Richmond  from  Fortress  Monroe  with  the  available 
troops  in  that  quarter,  and  then  entering  the  Rappahannock 
with  the  main  army. 

"  I  do  not  think  that  the  Confederate  army  would  have  re 
treated  to  Richmond  until  the  movement  developed  the  necessity. 

"  After  the  accomplishment  of  an  event  it  is  so  easy,  with  the 
aid  of  our  after-knowledge,  to  correct  errors  that  arise  from 
previous  want  of  information,  that  it  is  difficult  to  determine  the 
weight  that  should  be  given  to  conclusions  thus  reached. 

"  Thanking  you  for  your  expressions  of  kindness,  and  regret 
ting  my  inability  to  comply  more  fully  with  your  wishes, 
"  I  am,  very  truly,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  above  letter  was  never  published  /  but  it  is  hoped 
that  the  distinguished  gentleman  to  whom  it  was  addressed 
will  pardon  its  introduction  here,  as  I  have  carefully  sup 
pressed  his  name.  Upon  another  occasion  General  Lee  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  some  spirit-rappers,  asking  his  opinion 
on  a  certain  great  military  movement.  He  wrote  in  reply  a 
most  courteous  letter,  in  which  he  said  that  the  question  was 
one  about  which  military  critics  would  differ  ;  that  his  own 
judgment  about  such  matters  was  but  poor  at  best,  and  that 
inasmuch  as  they  had  power  to  consult  (through  their  medi 
ums)  Caesar,  Alexander,  Napoleon,  Wellington,  and  all  of  the 
other  great  captains  who  have  ever  lived,  he  could  not 
think  of  obtruding  his  opinion  into  such  company.  He  as 
tonished  the  writer  one  day,  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  by 
showing  him  a  letter  from  one  of  the  editors  of  a  New  York 
paper,  inquiring  what  battle  it  was  in  which  General  Lee 
asked  of  General  McClellan  a  truce  to  bury  his  dead — and 


240  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

asking  me  if  I  remembered.  Upon  replying  that  it  was  my 
very  decided  conviction  that,  in  all  of  his  contests  with  Gen 
eral  McClellan,  the  flag  of  truce  had  to  come  from  the  oilier 
side  •  that  Sharpsburg  was  the  only  battle  at  which  it  could 
have  occurred,  and  that  there  was  no  formal  truce  there, 
though  a  tacit  understanding  on  a  part  of  the  line,  by  which 
both  parties  gathered  up  their  dead  and  wounded — he  quiet 
ly  replied  :  "  Yes !  that  is  my  impression.  I  remember  dis 
tinctly  that  at  Sharpsburg  we  held  a  large  part  of  the  battle 
field,  that  we  remained  in  line  of  battle  the  whole  of  the 
next  day,  expecting — and  in  fact  hoping  for — an  attack,  and 
that  we  only  withdrew  upon  information  that  the  enemy  was 
being  largely  reenforced.  But  this  gentleman  writes  to  me 
(I  wish  he  had  written  to  General  McClellan,  he  could  have 
told  him),  and  I  desired  before  answering  him  to  confirm  my 
impression  by  that  of  others." 

"Not  long  after  the  close  of  the  war  General  Lee  received 
a  letter  from  General  David  Hunter,  of  the  Federal  army, 
in  which  he  begged  information  upon  two  points  : 

1.  His  (Hunter's)  campaign  in  the  summer  of  1864  was 
undertaken  on  information  received  at  the  War  Department 
in  Washington  that  General  Lee  was  about  to  detach  forty 
thousand  picked  troops  to  send  to  General  Johnston.     Did 
not  his  (Hunter's)  movements  prevent  this,  and  relieve  Sher 
man  to  that  extent  ? 

2.  When  he  found   it  necessary  to  retreat  from  before 
Lynchburg,  did  he  not  adopt  the  most  feasible  line  of  retreat? 

General  Lee  wrote  a  very  courteous  reply,  in  which  he 
said :  "  The  information  upon  which  your  campaign  was 
undertaken  was  erroneous.  I  had  no  troops  to  spare  Gen 
eral  Johnston,  and  no  intention  of  sending  him  any — cer 
tainly  not  forty  thousand,  as  that  would  have  taken  about 
all  I  had. 

"  As  to  the  second  point,  I  would  say  that  I  am  not  ad 
vised  as  to  the  motives  which  induced  you  to  adopt  the  line 
of  retreat  which  you  took,  and  am  not,  perhaps,  competent 


HIS   SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  241 

to  judge  of  the  question ;  lut  I  certainly  expected  you  to  re- 
treat  ly  way  of  the  Shenandoab  Valley,  and  was  gratified  at 
the  time  that  you  preferred  the  route  through  the  mountains 
to  the  Ohio — leaving  the  valley  open  for  General  Early 's  ad 
vance  into  Maryland." 

There  was  a  quiet  humor,  and  upon  occasion  a  keen  wit, 
in  General  Lee,  which  was  only  appreciated  by  those  who 
came  into  intimate  contact  with  him.  Hon.  B.  H.  Hill,  in 
the  speech  from  which  an  extract  in  the  previous  chapter  is 
taken,  gives  the  following : 

"  Lee  sometimes  indulged  in  satire,  to  which  his  greatness 
gave  point  and  power.  He  was  especially  severe  on  news 
paper  criticisms  of  military  movements — subjects  about 
which  the  writers  knew  nothing. 

"  '  We  made  a  great  mistake,  Mr.  Hill,  in  the  beginning 
of  our  struggle,  and  I  fear,  in  spite  of  all  we  can  do,  it  will 
prove  to  be  a  fatal  mistake,'  he  said  to  me,  after  General 
Bragg  ceased  to  command  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  an  event 
Lee  deplored. 

"  '  What  mistake  is  that,  general  3  ' 

"  c  Why,  sir,  in  the  beginning  we  appointed  all  our  worst 
generals  to  command  the  armies,  and  all  our  best  generals  to 
edit  the  newspapers.  As  you  know,  I  have  planned  some 
campaigns  and  quite  a  number  of  battles.  I  have  given  the 
work  all  the  care  and  thought  I  could,  and  sometimes,  when 
my  plans  were  completed,  as  far  as  I  could  see,  they  seemed 
to  be  perfect.  But  when  I  have  fought  them  through,  I 
have  discovered  defects  and  occasionally  wondered  I  did  not 
see  some  of  the  defects  in  advance.  When  it  was  all  over, 
I  found  by  reading  a  newspaper  that  these  best  editor  gen 
erals  saw  all  the  defects  plainly  from  the  start.  Unfor 
tunately,  they  did  not  communicate  their  knowledge  to  me 
until  it  was  too  late.5  Then,  after  a  pause,  he  added,  with  a 
beautiful,  grave  expression  I  can  never  forget :  '  I  have  no 
ambition  but  to  serve  the  Confederacy,  and  do  all  I  can  to 
win  our  independence.  I  am  willing  to  serve  in  any  capacity 
16 


242  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

to  which  the  authorities  may  assign  me.  I  have  done  the  best 
I  could  in  the  field,  and  have  not  succeeded  as  I  could  wish. 
I  am  willing  to  yield  my  place  to  these  best  generals,  and  I 
will  do  my  best  for  the  cause  editing  a  newspaper.' ': 

In  the  same  strain  he  once  remarked  to  one  of  his  gen 
erals  :  "  Even  as  poor  a  soldier  as  I  am  can  generally  dis 
cover  mistakes  after  it  is  all  over.  But  if  I  could  only  in 
duce  these  wise  gentlemen  who  see  them  so  clearly  lef ore- 
hand  to  communicate  with  me  in  advance,  instead  of  wait 
ing  until  the  evil  has  come  upon  us,  to  let  me  know  that 
they  knew  all  the  time,  it  would  be  far  better  for  my  reputa 
tion,  and  (what  is  of  more  consequence)  far  better  for  the 
cause." 

He  had  a  quiet  humor  in  administering  his  rebukes 
which  made  them  very  keenly  felt  by  those  who  were  so  un 
fortunate  as  to  incur  in  any  way  his  disapprobation. 

The  following  incidents  may  serve  as  specimens  of  many 
more  that  might  be  given : 

After  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill  had  ceased,  and  Mc- 
Clellan  had  left  the  ground  of  his  gallant  defense  for  Harri 
son's  Landing,  one  of  the  Confederate  commanders,  who  had 
not  been  fortunate  in  his  management  of  the  attack,  and  was 
not  aware  that  McClellan  had  retreated,  galloped  up  to  Gen 
eral  Lee  and  exclaimed  with  considerable  vehemence :  "  If 
you  will  permit  me,  sir,  I  will  charge  that  hill  with  my 
whole  force  and  carry  it  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet."  "  ~No 
doubt  you  could  now  succeed,"  was  the  quiet  reply,  "  but  I 
have  one  serious  objection  to  your  making  the  attack  at  this 
time."  "  May  I  ask  what  that  objection  is  ? "  was  the  eager 
question  of  the  ardent  soldier,  who  saw  honor  and  glory  be 
fore  him  in  the  present  opportunity.  "  I  am  afraid,  sir,"  re 
joined  the  commander-in-chief,  with  a  mischievous  twinkle 
of  the  eye  which  all  around  enjoyed  greatly,  "  that  you  would 
hurt  my  little  friend,  Captain  -  — .  The  enemy  left  about  an 
hour  ago,  and  he  is  over  there  with  a  reconnoitring  party." 

"While  at  winter  quarters  at  Petersburg,  a  party  of  offi- 


HIS   SOCIAL  CHARACTER.  243 

cers  were  one  niglit  busily  engaged  in  discussing,  at  the 
same  time,  a  mathematical  problem  and  the  contents  of  a 
stone  jug  which  was  garnished  by  two  tin  cups.  In  the  midst 
of  this  General  Lee  came  in  to  make  some  inquiry.  He  got 
'  the  information  he  wanted,  gave  a  solution  of  the  problem, 
and  went  out,  the  officers  expressing  to  each  other  the  hope 
that  the  general  had  not  noticed  the  jug  and  cups.  The 
next  day  one  of  the  officers,  in  the  presence  of  the  others, 
was  relating  to  General  Lee  a  very  strange  dream  he  had  the 
night  before.  The  general  listened  with  apparent  interest 
to  the  narrative,  and  quietly  rejoined :  "  That  is  not  at  all 
remarkable.  When  young  gentlemen  discuss  at  midnight 
mathematical  problems,  the  unknown  quantities  of  wrhich  are 
a  stone  jug  and  two  tin  cups,  they  may  expect  to  have 
strange  dreams." 

One  day,  at  Petersburg,  General  Lee,  who  never  suffered 
a  day  to  pass  without  visiting  some  part  of  his  lines,  rode  by 
the  quarters  of  one  of  his  major-generals,  and  requested  him 
to  ride  with  him.  As  they  were  going  he  asked  General 

-  if  a  certain  work  which  he  had  ordered  to  be  pushed 
was  completed.  He  replied  with  some  hesitation  that  it  was, 
and  General  Lee  then  proposed  that  they  should  go  and  see 
it.  Arriving  at  the  spot  it  was  found  that  little  or  no  prog 
ress  had  been  made  since  they  were  there  a  week  before,  and 
General  -  -  was  profuse  in  his  apologies,  saying  that  he 
had  not  seen  the  work  since  they  were  there  together,  but 
that  he  had  ordered  it  to  be  completed  at  once,  and  that 
Major  —  —  had  informed  him  that  it  had  been  already  finished. 
General  Lee  said  nothing  then,  except  to  remark,  quietly, 
"  We  must  give  our  personal  attention  to  the  lines."  But,  rid 
ing  on  a  little. farther,  he  began  to  compliment  General 

on  the  splendid  charger  he  rode.  "  Yes,  sir,"  said  General 
— ,  "he  is  a  splendid  animal,  and  I  prize  him  the  more 
highly  because  he  belongs  to  my  wife,  and  is  her  favorite 
riding-horse."  "  A  magnificent  horse,"  rejoined  General  Lee, 
"  but  I  should  not  think  him  safe  for  Mrs. to  ride.  He 


244  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

is  entirely  too  spirited  for  a  lady,  and  I  would  urge  you  by 
all  means  to  take  some  of  the  mettle  out  of  him  before  you 
suffer  Mrs.  -  -  to  ride  him  again.  And,  by- the- way,  gen 
eral,  I  would  suggest  to  you  that  these  rough  patlis  along 
these  trenches  would  ~be  very  admirable  ground  over  which  to 
tame  him"  The  face  of  the  gallant  soldier  turned  crimson ; 
he  felt  most  keenly  the  rebuke,  and  never  afterward  report 
ed  the  condition  of  his  lines  upon  information  received  from 
Major  -  — ,  or  any  one  else.  His  spirited  charger  felt  the 
effect  of  this  hint  from  headquarters. 

One  of  the  professors  in  the  college  was  one  day  mak 
ing  a  very  earnest  speech  at  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  on 
the  best  means  of  securing  a  full  attendance  of  the  students 
at  the  chapel  service.  It  so  happened  that  this  excellent 
gentleman  (as  well  as  some  other  members  of  the  Faculty) 
was  not  in  the  habit  of  attending  chapel  himself.  When  he 
had  finished  his  speech,  President  Lee  quietly  said  :  "  One  of 
the  best  ways  that  I  know  of  to  induce  the  students  to  attend 
chapel  is  to  be  sure  that  we  attend  ourselves."  And  accord 
ingly  his  seat  was  never  vacant,  unless  he  was  kept  away  by 
absence  from  home  or  sickness. 

The  general  used  to  enjoy  very  much  a  quiet  joke  at 
the  expense  of  some  over-confident  student.  The  writer 
heard  him,  one  day,  introduce  a  new  student  to  one  of  the 
professors  by  saying,  with  a  quiet  smile :  "  This  young 
gentleman  is  going  to  graduate  in  one  session."  "  No,  gen 
eral,"  replied  the  youth,  "  you  misunderstood  me ;  I  did  not 
say  that  I  would  graduate  in  one,  but  in  two  sessions."  "  Ah, 
he  has  concluded  to  postpone  it  for  a  session.  Well,  sir,  I 
wish  you  the  full  realization  of  your  hopes  ;  but  I  must  tell 
you  that  you  will  have  no  time  to  play  base-ball." 

It  may  be  as  well  to  introduce  at  this  point  a  number  of 
his  private  letters,  which,  written  without  any  expectation 
that  they  would  ever  be  published,  will  be  read  with  deep 
interest  as  illustrating  not  only  his  social  character,  but  othei 
points  as  well. 


HIS   SOCIAL  CHARACTER.  245 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  October  25,  1865. 
"  Messrs.  SORANTON  &  BURR,  Hartford,  Conn. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  13th  inst., 
and  fear  I  was  not  sufficiently  explicit  in  my  former  communica 
tion.  I  cannot  now  undertake  the  work  you  propose,  nor  can  I 
enter  into  an  engagement  to  do  what  I  may  never  be  able  to 
accomplish.  I  have  not  read  the  histories  of  the  late  war  to 
which  you  refer,  but  think  it  natural  they  should  be  of  the 
character  you  describe.  It  will  be  some  time  before  the  truth 
can  be  known,  and  I  do  not  think  that  period  has  yet  arrived. 
I  am  unwilling  that  you  should  unnecessarily  undertake  a  weari 
some  journey ;  but  if,  after  what  I  have  said,  you  should  still 
desire  an  interview  with  me,  it  will  give  me  pleasure  to  see  you 
at  this  place. 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,        R.  E.  LEE." 

"WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  22,  1866. 
"  WARREN  NEWCOMB,  Esq.,  New  York  City,  N.  T. 

"  SIR  :  The  pleasing  duty  of  transmitting  to  you  the  accom 
panying  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Trustees  of  Washington 
College,  at  their  meeting  on  the  10th  inst.,  has  been  conferred 
upon  me  by  the  Board. 

"  In  presenting  to  you  their  grateful  thanks  for  your  gener 
ous  aid  in  behalf  of  the  college,  I  beg  leave  to  express  my  sense 
of  your  liberality  to  the  cause  of  education,  now  so  essential  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  South.  The  reestablish ment  of  her  col 
leges  upon  a  broad  and  enlightened  basis,  calculated  to  provide 
for  the  proper  instruction  of  her  people,  and  to  develop  her  dor 
mant  resources,  is  one  of  the  greatest  benefits  that  can  be  con 
ferred  upon  the  country. 

"  Those  contributing  to  this  great  result  will  be  ranked  by 
posterity  among  the  most  meritorious  citizens. 

"  With  sentiments  of  great  esteem,  I  am  your  obed't  serv't, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  YA.,  March  26,  1866. 
"Mr.  RATKMELL  WILSON,  919  Clinton  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"Sm:  I  have  delayed  replying  to  your  letter  of  the  12th 
inst.  until  I  could  inform  you  of  the  arrival  of  the  books  which 


24:6  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

you  have  so  generously  bestowed  upon  Washington  College. 
The  six  (6)  boxes  described  in  your  letter  arrived  in  safety  and 
good  order  on  Saturday  last,  and  to-day  the  books  have  been 
properly  arranged  in  a  part  of  the  library  appropriated  to  them, 
where  shelves  are  reserved  for  the  other  volumes  which  you 
mention.  They  will  be  preserved  with  care,  and  be  designated 
as  'The  Wilson  Contribution  to  the  Library  of  Washington 
College.' 

"They  form  the  most  valuable  collection  in  the  library,  will 
do  much  for  the  advancement  of  science,  give  an  impulse  to  the 
spread  and  development  of  that  knowledge  so  highly  valued  by 
your  esteemed  brother,  and  cause  his  memory  to  be  revered  and 
cherished  by  the  wise  and  good. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  27,  1866. 
"  Mr. ,  Louisville,  Ky. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIK  :  In  repljr  to  your  communication  of  the  19th 
hist.,  stating  your  kind  intentions  in  behalf  of  the  Literary  So 
cieties  of  Washington  College,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  a 
letter  of  thanks  from  each  society.  There  is  scarcely  a  feature 
in  the  organization  of  the  college  more  improving  or  beneficial 
to  the  students  than  the  exercises  and  influence  of  the  societies ; 
and  the  good  they  accomplish  renders  them  worthy  of  encourage 
ment  by  the  friends  of  education. 

"  I  therefore  present  to  you,  and  to  those  who  are  united 
with  you,  my  cordial  thanks  for  the  aid  you  propose. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "  R,  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  5,  1866. 
"  Mr.  WILLIAM  H.  HOPE,  City  of  New  York. 

"MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 
letter  of  the  22d  ult.,  and  for  the  interest  you  express  for  the 
fate  of  Arlington.  I  should  like  to  recover  it,  that  I  might,  as 
the  executor  of  Mr.  G.  W.  P.  Custis,  carry  out  the  provisions  of 
his  will.  I  did  not  know  that  it  had  been  sold  for  taxes  on  the 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  247 

llth  of  January,  1864,  as  stated  in  the  newspaper  slip  you  in 
closed.  It  was  seized  by  the  United  States  troops  in  the  spring 
of  1861  while  in  possession  of  a  regularly-appointed  manager, 
who  was  conducting  the  usual  agricultural  operations.  I  should 
have  thought  that  the  use  of  the  grounds,  the  large  amount  of 
wood  on  the  place,  the  teams,  etc.,  and  the  sale  of  the  furniture 
of  the  house,  would  have  been  sufficient  to  have  paid  the  taxes. 
I  do  not  know  whether  the  Secretary  of  War  would  relinquish 
possession  of  the  estate,  or  permit  its  redemption  under  the 
Virginia  laws.  If  he  did,  and  should  require  the  $26,860,  stated 
to  have  been  bid  for  it  by  the  United  States,  to  be  refunded,  it 
would  be  out  of  my  power  to  redeem  it.  With  my  sincere 
thanks  for  your  friendly  letter, 

"  I  am,  very  truly,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  6,  1866. 

"  ALFEED  H.  GUERNSEY,  Care  of  Harper  &  Brothers,  ) 
Franklin  Square,  New  York.  j 

"  SIR:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  22d  ult.,  requesting 
the  numbers  of   the  Confederate  army  in   the  battles  around 
Richmond,  in  1862.     I  have  not  access  to   the  returns  of  the 
army  at  that  time,  or  I  would  comply  with  your  request. 
"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"ROCKBRIDGE  BATHS,  VA.,  August  4,  1866. 
"  OHAS.  F.  DEEMS,  D.  D.,  Editor  Watchman,  New  York  City. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 
letter  of  the  27th  ult.,  and  beg  to  return  you  my  thanks  for  the 
friendly  sentiments  it  contained.  I  have  derived  much  satis 
faction  from  the  numbers  of  the  Watchman  you  have  kindly 
sent  me,  but  it  will  be  out  of  my  power  to  contribute  any  thing 
to  its  columns.  My  time  is  fully  occupied,  and  I  cannot  under 
take  to  do  more.  No  one  can  have  more  at  heart  the  welfare  of 
the  young  men  of  the  country  than  I  have.  It  is  the  hope 
of  doing  something  for  the  benefit  of  those  at  the  South  that 
has  led  me  to  take  my  present  office.  My  only  object  is  to  en- 


248  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

deavor  to  make  them  see  their  true  interest,  to  teach  them  to 
labor  diligently  for  their  improvement,  and  to  prepare  them 
selves  for  the  great  work  of  life.  Wishing  you  every  happiness 
and  success,  I  am.  etc.,  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  two  following  letters,  addressed  to  the  distinguished 
scholar  from  whose  tribute  to  Lee  a  quotation  is  made  in 
a  previous  chapter,  will  be  read  with  peculiar  interest : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  10,  1866. 
"  Mr.  P.  S.  WORSLEY. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  the  copy  of  your  transla 
tion  of  the  '  Iliad,'  which  you  so  kindly  presented  to  me.  Its 
perusal  has  been  my  evening's  recreation,  and  I  have  never  en 
joyed  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  poem  more  than  as  re 
cited  by  you.  The  translation  is  as  truthful  as  powerful,  and 
faithfully  reproduces  the  imagery  and  rhythm  of  the  bold  original. 

"  The  undeserved  compliment  to  myself  in  prose  and  verse, 
on  the  first  leaves  of  the  volume,  I  receive  as  your  tribute  to 
the  merit  of  my  countrymen  who  struggled  for  constitutional 
government. 

11  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  «R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  14,  1866. 
"Jfr.  P.  S.  WORSLEY. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  WORSLEY  :  In  a  letter  just  received  from 
my  nephew,  Mr.  Childe,  I  regret  to  learn  that,  at  his  last  accounts 
from  you,  you  were  greatly  indisposed.  So  great  is  my  interest 
in  your  welfare,  that  I  cannot  refrain,  even  at  the  risk  of  intrud 
ing  upon  your  sick-room,  from  expressing  my  sincere  sympathy 
in  your  affliction.  I  trust,  however,  that  ere  this  you  have  re 
covered,  and  are  again  in  perfect  health.  Like  many  of  youi 
tastes  and  pursuits,  I  fear  you  may  confine  yourself  too  closely 
to  your  reading :  less  mental  labor,  and  more  of  the  fresh  air 
of  heaven,  might  bring  to  you  more  comfort,  and  to  your  friends 
more  enjoyment,  even  in  the  way  in  which  you  now  delight 
them.  Should  a  visit  to  this  distracted  country  promise  you 
any  recreation,  I  hope  I  need  not  assure  you  how  happy  I  should 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  249 

be  to  see  you  at  Lexington.  I  can  give  you  a  quiet  room  and 
careful  nursing,  and  a  horse  that  would  delight  to  carry  you  over 
our  beautiful  mountains.  I  hope  my  letter  informing  you  of  the 
pleasure  I  derived  from  the  perusal  of  your  translation  of  the 
1  Iliad,'  in  which  I  endeavored  to  express  my  thanks  for  the  great 
compliment  you  paid  me  in  its  dedication,  has  informed  you  of 
my  high  appreciation  of  the  work.  Wishing  you  every  happi 
ness  in  this  world,  and  praying  that  eternal  peace  may  be  your 
portion  in  that  to  corne, 

"  I  am,  most  truly,  your  friend  and  servant, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  16,  1866. 
"  Lieutenant  VON  CLAUSENITZ,  Germany. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  the 
13th  of  March,  offering  to  translate  into  German  the  history  of 
the  late  war  in  America,  which  you  understood  that  I  was  en 
gaged  in  writing. 

"  It  has  been  my  desire  to  write  a  history  of  the  campaigns 
in  Virginia ;  but  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  commence  it,  and  it 
is  so  uncertain  that  I  shall  be  able  to  accomplish  my  purpose, 
that  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  make  any  arrangements  for  its 
translation  into  a  foreign  language.  Should  circumstances  here* 
after  render  such  a  course  proper,  I  shall  not  forget  your  kind 
proposition. 

"  Thanking  you  most  cordially  for  the  interest  you  have  taken 
in  the  Southern  States,  and  for  the  kind  sentiments  you  manifest 
toward  myself, 

*'  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON  VA.,  April  17,  1866. 

«  Mr. ,  New  York  City,  JT.  Y. 

"  SIR  :  I  thank  you  for  your  offer  presented  in  your  note  of 
the  9th  inst,  but  I  am  now  unable  to  purchase  works  of  art  of 
any  kind.  The  White  House  of  Pamunkey,  as  it  lives  in  my 
memory,  must  suffice  for  my  purpose. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 


250     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  30,  1866. 

"  Rev.  ALEX.  B.  GROSART,  308  Upper  Parliament ) 
Street,  Liverpool,  England.  \ 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  the 
English  Bible  which  in  your  note  of  the  26th  ult  you  announced 
had  been  forwarded  to  my  address.  It  is  one  of  the  best  copies 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  that  I  have  ever  seen,  and  is  particularly 
valuable  to  me  from  the  circumstances  associated  with  its  pres 
entation,  and  as  a  token  of  the  generous  sympathy  of  the  do 
nors,  among  whom  I  perceive  the  names  of  some  of  England's 
most  worthy  citizens. 

"  I  hope  you  will  allow  me  to  repeat  my  request  that  you 
will  give  to  them  my  sincere  thanks  for  a  gift  so  precious. 

"  I  am  extremely  obliged  to  you  for  the  set  of  your  writings 
which  accompanied  the  Bible.  After  perusal  I  will  place  them 
in  the  library  of  Washington  College,  that  all  connected  with 
it  may  partake  of  their  benefit. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  most  cordially  yours, 
(Signed)  «  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  3,  1866. 
«  Mrs. ?  Baltimore,  Md. 

"  I  received  this  morning  the  gown  presented  to  me  by  the 
ladies  of  the  Northeastern  Branch  tables,  40  and  42,  at  the  late 
fair  held  in  Baltimore. 

"  I  beg  that  you  will  express  to  them  my  grateful  thanks  for 
this  mark  of  kindness,  which  I  shall  value  most  highly  in  re 
membrance  of  their  munificent  bounty  bestowed  on  thousands 
of  destitute  women  and  children  by  the  '  Association  for  the 
Relief  of  Southern  Sufferers,'  the  fruits  of  whicli  shall  live  long 
after  those  who  have  received  it  have  mouldered  into  dust. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  5,  1866. 
"  C.  R.  BISHOP,  JR.,  P.  0.  Box  482,  Petersburg,  Va. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  1st  inst.,  informing 
me  of  my  election  as  an  honorary  member  of  the  Stonewall  Lit 
erary  Society  of  Petersburg. 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  251 

"  Please  present  to  the  society  my  grateful  thanks  for  asso 
ciating  me  in  their  laudable  design  of  self-improvement,  in  ac 
complishing  which  I  can  commend  to  them  no  more  worthy  ex 
ample  than  his  whose  name  they  have  adopted. 

"  Very  respectfully, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  12,  1866. 
"  The  Ladies  of  the  Southern  Relief  Fair,  Baltimore,  Md. 

"  I  beg  leave  to  present  to  the  ladies  of  the  Southern  Relief 
Fair  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  handsome  saddle  and  bridle  which 
they  have  been  so  kind  as  to  send  me  from  Mr.  Farquharson. 

"  Were  I  not  reminded  at  every  point  to  which  I  turn,  at 
the  South,  of  their  benevolent  labors  for  its  relief,  their  gift 
would  serve  to  keep  me  in  mind  of  their  sympathy  and  gener 
osity.  With  great  respect, 

(Signed)  "R  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  21,  1866. 
"  Mr.  W,  H.  NETTLETON,  Care  of  Southwestern  ) 
Telegraph- Office,  New  Orleans,  La.  j 

"  SIR  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  kind  senti 
ments  expressed  in  your  letter  of  the  llth  inst.  toward  myself 
and  my  native  State.  Your  visit  to  America  must  have  im 
pressed  upon  you  the  fact  that,  though  climate,  government, 
and  circumstances  have  produced  changes  in  the  character  of  the 
people,  yet  in  all  essential  qualities  they  resemble  the  races 
from  which  they  are  sprung ;  and  that  to  no  race  are  we  more 
indebted  for  the  virtues  which  constitute  a  great  people  than  to 
the  Anglo-Saxon.  You  will  carry  back  with  you  to  England 
my  best  wishes  for  your  future  happiness,  and 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  23,  1866. 
u  jfr> ?  p^t  Riley,  Kansas. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  21st  ult., 
and  send  a  prospectus  of  the  course  of  studies,  etc.,  at  Washing 
ton  College. 

"You  will  see   the  character  of  instruction   given   at  the 


252  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

institution,  and  can  judge  whether  it  will  suit  the  views  you  en 
tertain  for  the  education  of  your  son.  If  he  really  desires  to 
learn,  I  think  it  will  afford  him  ample  opportunity. 

"  There  are  other  colleges  in  Virginia  where  a  student  anx 
ious  for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  can  be  accommodated. 

"  The  University  of  Virginia  at  Charlottes ville  is  the  largest 
institution  of  learning  at  the  South,  and  has  enjoyed  the  high 
est  reputation.  After  the  attainment  of  a  collegiate  education, 
such  as  may  desire  can  enter  the  schools  of  law  or  medicine,  and 
acquire  the  knowledge  of  a  profession. 

"  At  this  place  there  is  an  excellent  law-school,  of  which 
Judge  Brockenbrough  is  the  principal ;  but  there  is  no  school 
of  medicine. 

"  Hoping  that  your  selection  of  a  school  for  your  son  may 
advance  his  true  interest,  I  remain,  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "RE.  LEE." 

"  Colonel .  "LEXINGTON,  VAM  May  25,  1866. 

"  MY  DEAR  COLONEL  :  In  compliance  with  your  request  of 
the  21st,  I  send  a  general  statement  of  your  services  while  with 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  I  hope  it  may  answer  your 
purpose.  But  I  think  an  old  engineer-officer  ought  to  make  a 
good  farmer;  and  I  advise  you  not  to  abandon  such  an  honor 
able  and  independent  pursuit,  until  you  are  very  sure  you  can 
do  better.  Very  respectfully  yours, 

(Signed)  «  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  June  1,  1866. 

"  Messrs. ,  South  Sharp  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 
offer  to  send  me  a  hat,  and  appreciate  most  highly  the  motives 
which  prompt  it.  When  so  many  are  destitute,  I  dislike  to 
have  more  than  I  actually  require,  and  yet  am  unwilling  to  ap 
pear  insensible  to  your  sentiments  of  friendship  and  sympathy. 
I  have  a  very  good  hat,  which  will  answer  my  purpose  the  whole 
year ;  and  would,  therefore,  prefer  you  to  give  to  others  what  I 
really  do  not  require.  If,  however,  after  what  I  have  said,  you 


HIS  SOCIAL  CHARACTER.  253 

btill  wish  to  present  me  with  what  I  can  well  do  without,  I  can 
not  refuse  what  you  say  will  be  a  gratification  to  you. 
"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

"  Colonel .  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  June  5,  1866. 

"MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  have  been  intending  to  write  to  you  for 
some  weeks  ;  but,  as  I  Jsnew  that  what  I  desire  to  say  would  not 
be  pleasing,  I  have  deferred  from  day  to  day,  in  the  hope  that 
the  necessity  for  my  letter  might  be  avoided.  I  think,  however, 
it  is  better  that  you  should  know  what  I  have  to  relate. 

"I  fear  your  son  John  has  not  been  as  attentive  to  his 
studies  as  he  might  have  been.  But,  however  that  may  be,  he 
certainly  has  not  progressed  as  I  desired  him,  or  as  you  might 
wish  him.  It  is  true,  he  has  been  sick ;  had  an  attack  of  mumps, 
which  caused  him  to  be  absent  for  a  time ;  and  indisposition  may 
have  rendered  him  indisposed  to  study.  I  have,  in  a  friendly 
way,  called  his  attention  to  his  apparent  neglect  of  his  studies, 
and  to  the  injury  he  would  thereby  do  himself,  which  he  received 
in  the  same  spirit  in  which  it  was  given,  and  at  the  time  was,  no 
doubt,  in  earnest  in  his  intention  to  change  his  course.  But,  as 
far  as  I  can  judge  from  the  reports  of  his  teachers,  he  is  not  spend 
ing  his  time  profitably ;  and,  unless  he  should  show  some  marked 
improvement  before  the  end  of  the  session,  I  would  recommend 
you  to  withdraw  him  from  the  college.  Such,  I  may  add,  is  the 
opinion  of  the  Faculty.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  to  his  ad 
vantage  to  continue  here  without  reaping  an  adequate  return 
for  the  expenditure  of  his  time  and  money.  I  hope  you  will  ex 
cuse  the  freedom  with  which  I  have  written  ;  but  I  have  been 
prompted  by  a  desire  to  give  you  such  information  as  would  en 
able  you  to  direct  the  course  of  your  son  to  his  own  benefit,  and 
your  own  satisfaction. 

".Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  August  11,  1866. 
"  Messrs. ,  Richmond,  Va. 

"  GEXTLEMEX  :  I  have  received  the  arm-chair  which  you 
have  forwarded  to  me,  at  the  request  of  Mr. ,  of  Baltimore. 


254  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

It  possesses  for  me  now  a  double  value,  as  recalling  its  former 
use  and  illustrious  associations,  with  the  pleasing  remembrance 
of  living  friends  whose  kindness  never  ceases  and  whose  thought 
ful  consideration  never  wearies.  I  beg  that  you  will  express  to 

Mr. my  sense  of  gratitude  for  his  gift,  and  that  you  will 

accept  my  thanks  for  the  agreeable  manner  in  which  you  have 
presented  it. 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  yours,  etc.,  etc.,          R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  August  29,  1866. 
** ,  Richmond,  Va. 

"GENTLEMEN:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  28th  inst., 
and  thank  you  for  the  compliment  tendered  me  in  the  proposed 
name  of  your  club.  While  I  feel  no  desire  for  such  distinction, 
I  do  not  wish  to  control  your  preferences,  and  therefore  leave 
the  matter  to  your  own  decision.  It  might  answer  your  purposes 
as  well,  perhaps,  to  bestow  upon  your  club  some  real  appellation, 
such  as  '  Virginia,'  l  Richmond,'  or,  if  you  desire  a  name  more 
closely  connected  with  my  own,  '  Arlington.' 

"Very  respectfully,  etc.,  etc.,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  August  30,  1866. 
"  Mr.  WILLIAM  B.  REED,  Chestnut  Hill,  near  Philadelphia. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  you  for  the  pack 
age  of  my  father's  letters  which  you  have  kindly  sent  me.  They 
will  be  doubly  valuable  to  me,  as  relics  of  one  whose  memory  I 
cherish  and  venerate,  and  as  mementos  of  your  'sincere  regard.' 
I  shall  take  renewed  interest  in  referring  to  your 'Life  of  General 
Reed,'  and  shall  endeavor  to  procure  Mr.  Dawson's  pamphlet  on 
4  Stony  Point.'  I  have  long  wished  to  see  some  points  in  the 
chapter  on  Sergeant  Champe  in  the  c  Memoirs '  cleared  up.  Of 
the  main  facts  I  think  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  They 
are  narrated  with  clearness  and  distinctness,  and  it  is  stated  that, 
soon  after  the  return  of  Champe,  his  story  became  known  to  the 
'  Legion,'  and  that  he  was  introduced  to  General  Greene,  who 
cheerfully  complied  with  the  promises  of  Washington.  The 
'  Memoirs  '  were  first  published  in  1811  or  '12.  Many  officers  of 
the  corps  must  have  been  then  alive — Dr.  Irvine  certainly  was, 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  255 

as  also  Judge  Peter  Johnson  and  Major  Gardner.  The  latter,  in 
his  '  Anecdotes  of  the  Revolution,'  could  hardly  have  restrained 
the  expression  of  his  surprise  unless  he  possessed  some  knowl 
edge  of  the  truth  of  the  story.  The  late  Judge  Brooke,  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals  of  Virginia,  told  my  brother,  C.  C.  Lee,  that  he 
was  familiar  with  Champe's  enterprise  long  before  the  publica 
tion  of  the  '  Memoirs,'  having  learned  it  from  his  brother,  for 
whom  Champe's  brother  was  overseer.  I  cannot  think,  with  Colo 
nel  Allen  McLane,  that  it  is  a  romance.  The  fact  that  he,  as 
commander  of  Paulus  Hook,  did  not  know  of  the  desertion  of 
Champe,  is  no  proof  that  it  did  not  occur.  It  is  not  customary 
in  military  operations  for  post  commanders  to  know  every  thing 
that  happens,  nor  is  it  usual  for  the  names  or  acts  of  those  em 
ployed  in  secret  service  to  be  known.  Even  their  immediate 
commanders  are  kept  in  as  much  ignorance  as  possible  of  their 
movements,  and  the  personal  staff  of  the  general-in-chief  are  as 
ignorant  of  them  as  the  private  soldier. 

"  That  there  was  a  plan  for  taking  Arnold,  is  proved  by  the 
letter  of  Washington,  in  his  own  handwriting,  of  the  20th  of  Oc 
tober,  1780,  to  Major  Lee,  in  which  he  gives  it  his  approval, 
agrees  to  the  promised  rewards,  adds  certain  instructions,  and 
directs  that  under  no  circumstances  should  he  be  put  to  death. 
Washington  is  said  to  have  had  other  objects  in  view,  in  the  cap 
ture  of  Arnold,  than  saving  the  life  of  Andre".  The  most  impor 
tant  was  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  information  received 
through  his  confidential  agents  in  New  York,  that  many  of  his 
officers  were  connected  with  Arnold,  and  after  the  execution  of 
Andre1, 13th  of  October,  he  commanded  Major  Lee  to  communicate 
it  to  Champe,  with  directions  to  prosecute  with  vigor  the  remain 
ing  objects  of  his  instructions,  and  expressed  to  him  his  satisfac 
tion,  in  his  letter  of  the  13th  of  October  (also  in  his  own  hand 
writing),  at  the  reception  of  the  documents  from  Champe,  excul 
pating  the  major-general  who  had  been  named  by  his  agents. 

"  If,  in  your  reading,  you  can  recall  any  facts  tending  to  de 
cide  the  matter,  I  shall  be  under  additional  obligations  to  you  if 
you  will  mention  them. 

"  Most  truly  yours, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 


256     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  September  6,  1866. 
"Hon.  A.  J.  REQUIER,  81  Cedar  Street,  New  York. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 
letter  of  the  22d  ult.  So  many  articles  formerly  belonging  to  me 
are  scattered  over  the  country,  that  I  fear  I  have  not  time  to  de 
vote  to  their  recovery.  I  know  no  one  in  Buffalo  whom  I  could 
ask  to  reclaim  the  Bible  in  question.  If  the  lady  who  has  it  will 
use  it  as  I  hope  she  will,  she  will  herself  seek  to  restore  it  to  its 
rightful  owner.  I  will,  therefore,  leave  the  decision  of  the  ques 
tion  to  her  and  her  conscience.  I  have  read  with  great  pleasure 
the  poem  you  sent  me,  and  thank  you  sincerely  for  your  interest 
in  my  behalf. 

"  With  great  respect,  etc.,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  September  26,  1866. 
"  Mrs.  MILES  LELLS,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"I  received,  this  morning,  your  letter  of  the  19th  inst.,  and 
hasten  to  express  my  deep  sympathy  in  the  object  of  the  Southern 
Relief  Association  of  St.  Louis.  A  cause  so  benevolent  as  the 
relief  of  suffering  women  and  children  will  be  sure  to  elicit  the 
kindest  feelings  of  your  great  and  populous  city,  and  awaken  the 
interest  of  the  whole  West  in  your  enterprise.  Its  success,  there 
fore,  cannot  be  doubtful,  and  I  feel  assured  the  result  will  equal 
your  highest  expectations.  You  may  be  certain  of  the  profound 
gratitude  of  the  people  of  the  South,  and  of  their  earnest  wishes 
for  your  prosperity. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  November  1,  1866. 
"  Mr.  W.  PARKER  SNOW,  Nyack,  N.  T. 

"  Mr  DEAR  SIR  :  I  regret  that  it  will  be  out  of  my  power  to 
furnish  you  with  the  information  you  require  for  your  proposed 
work.  I  can  readily  understand  the  nature  of  the  difficulties 
which  you  will  have  to  encounter,  but  my  time  is  so  fully  occu 
pied  with  my  present  engagements,  that  I  can  scarcely  keep  pace 
with  my  current  correspondence.  I  hope  that  you  will  be  able 
to  visit  the  scenes  of  the  events  }'ou  describe,  and  to  ascertain 
the  true  circumstances  connected  with  them.  I  feel  assured  that 


HIS   SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  257 

all  concerned  at  the  South  will  take  pleasure  in  giving  you  any 
information  in  their  power.     As  you  state  that  you  did  not  re 
ceive  my  answer  to  your  former  letter,  I  inclose  you  a  copy. 
"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  13,  1866. 
"  General  THOMAS  L.  EOSSER,  634  Lexington  Street,  Baltimore. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  I  have  considered  the  questions  ID 
your  letter  of  the  8th  inst.,  and  am  unable  to  advise  as  to  the 
efficacy  of  the  scheme  proposed  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
object  in  view.  That  can  be  better  determined  by  those  more 
conversant  with  similar  plans  than  I  am. 

"  As  regards  the  erection  of  such  a  monument  as  is  contem 
plated,  my  conviction  is,  that,  however  grateful  it  would  be  to  the 
feelings  of  the  South,  the  attempt,  in  the  present  condition  of 
the  country,  would  have  the  effect  of  retarding  instead  of  accel 
erating  its  accomplishment,  and  of  continuing  if  not  adding  to 
the  difficulties  under  which  the  Southern  people  labor.  All,  1 
think,  that  can  now  be  done  is  to  aid  our  noble  and  generous 
women  in  their  efforts  to  protect  the  graves  and  mark  the  last 
resting-places  of  those  who  have  fallen,  and  wait  for  better  times. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  of  your  comfortable  establishment 
in  Baltimore,  and  that  Mrs.  Rosser  is  with  you.  Please  present 
to  her  my  warm  regards.  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to 
meet  you  both  anywhere,  and  especially  at  times  of  leisure  in  the 
mountains  of  Virginia,  but  such  times  look  too  distant  for  me  to 
contemplate,  much  less  for  me  now  to  make  arrangements  for. 
"  Very  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  15,  1865. 
"Mrs. . 

"  I  received  yesterday  your  letter  of  the  6th  ins fc.,  inviting 
me  to  Baltimore,  and  hasten  to  return  my  sincere  thanks  for  the 
kind  and  earnest  manner  in  which  it  was  given. 

"  I  am  fully  aware  of  the  many  and  repeated  acts  of  sympa 
thy  and  relief  bestowed  by  the  generous  citizens  of  Baltimore 
upon  the  people  of  the  South,  acts  which  will  always  be  remem- 
17 


258  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

bered,  but  which  can  never  be  repaid,  and  which  will  forever 
stand  as  monuments  of  their  Christian  charity  and  kindness. 

"  I  know,  too,  that  by  their  munificence  they  have  brought 
loss  and  suffering  on  themselves,  for  which  I  trust  God  will 
reward  them.  I  need  not,  I  hope,  assure  you  of  the  pleasure  it 
would  give  me  to  express  to  them  the  gratitude  I  feel ;  but  1 
cannot  do  it  in  the  way  you  propose,  even  if  my  engagements 
permitted  ;  and  I  therefore  hope  you  will  excuse  me  for  declin 
ing  your  invitation. 

"  The  exercises  of  the  college  are  only  suspended  Christmas- 
day,  and  my  presence  here  is  required. 

"  With  great  respect,  E.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  16,  1867. 
"  Rev.  JOHN  W.  BROWN,  Rector  of  St.  Ann's,  Middletown,  Del. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  llth  inst., 
inclosing  your  draft  for  eighty  dollars  for  the  relief  of  the  suffer 
ing  people  of  the  South.  In  its  application  I  will  endeavor  to 
select  objects  worthy  of  the  donation ;  and  I  feel  assured  that 
the  blessing  of  God  will  accompany  a  gift  dictated  by  benevo 
lent  motives,  and  hallowed  by  pious  memories.  I  sympathize 
with  you  deeply  in  the  death  of  your  noble  brother,  and  trust 
he  has  received  the  reward  of  duty  faithfully  performed. 
"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  outburst  of  feeling  on  the  release  of  his 
warm  personal  friend  (ex-President  Davis)  from  prison  will 
be  read  with  deep  interest : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  June  1,  1867. 
"  Hon.  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  DAVIS  :  You  can  conceive  better  than  I  can 
express  the  misery  which  your  friends  have  suffered  from  your 
long  imprisonment,  and  the  other  afflictions  incident  thereto. 
To  none  has  this  been  more  painful  than  to  me,  and  the  impossi 
bility  of  affording  relief  has  added  to  my  distress.  Your  release 
has  lifted  a  load  from  my  heart  which  I  have  not  words  to  tell, 
and  my  daily  prayer  to  the  great  Ruler  of  the  world  is,  that  He 


HIS  SOCIAL  CHARACTER.  25U 

may  shield  you  from  all  future  harm,  guard  you  from  all  evil,  and 
give  you  that  peace  which  the  world  cannot  take  away. 

"  That  the  rest  of  your  days  may  be  triumphantly  happy 
is  the  sincere  and  earnest  wish  of 

"  Your  most  obedient,  faithful  friend  and  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  June  18,  1867. 
"  Mr.  H.  S.  McKEE,  Eastman  Business  College,  PoughTceepsie,  N.  Y. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  beg  leave  to  return  my  sincere  thanks  to 
the  '  Lee  Association '  for  the  handsome  photographic  picture 
of  its  founders.  It  will  keep  in  my  remembrance  the  youthful 
features  of  those  whose  friendly  sentiments  will  cause  them  to 
live  always  in  my  heart. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  Association, 
and  for  the  individual  happiness  of  all  its  members, 
"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 


"WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  LEXINGTON  VA.,  June  18,  1867. 
u  Jt/r.  E.  V.  ELLIOT,  President  Ghent  College,  \ 
Care  of  James  8.  Frank,  Ghent,  Ky.         \ 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  1st  inst., 
and  highly  appreciate  the  invitation  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
Ghent  College,  Ky.,  to  visit  their  institution  at  its  opening  on 
the  1st  of  September  next,  and  regret  that  it  will  not  be  in  my 
power  to  do  so.  I  beg,  therefore,  that  you  will  present  to  the 
board  my  sincere  thanks  for  their  invitation,  and  my  earnest 
wishes  for  the  success  of  their  college. 

"  At  no  period  in  the  history  of  the  country  was  the  right 
education  of  its  youth  of  so  much  importance  to  its  welfare  as 
at  present,  and  the  establishment  of  every  suitable  institution  of 
learning  should  be  a  source  of  congratulation  to  its  citizens. 

"Reciprocating  all  your  friendly  sentiments,  and  hoping 
that  our  acquaintance  may  be  extended, 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 


260  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  June  24,  1867. 
"Mrs.  ANN  UPSHUK  JONES,  156  Lafayette  Avenue,  Brooklyn,  N.  T. 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your 
letter  of  the  17th  inst.,  and  send  to  your  address  a  catalogue  of 
Washington  College,  and  a  copy  of  its  charter  and  laws.  On 
the  thirty-seventh  page  of  the  former,  and  the  eleventh  of  the 
latter,  you  will  find  what  is  prescribed  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
I  do  not  know  that  it  ever  has  been  sectarian  in  its  character 
since  it  was  chartered  as  a  college  ;  but  it  certainly  is  not  so 
now.  Located  in  a  Presbyterian  community,  it  is  natural  that 
most  of  its  trustees  and  Faculty  should  be  of  that  denomination, 
though  the  rector,  president,  and  several  of  the  professors,  are 
members  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  It  is  the  furthest  from  my 
wish  to  divert  any  donation  from  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Alexandria,  for  I  am  well  acquainted  with  the  merits  of  the  in 
stitution,  have  a  high  respect  for  its  professors,  and  am  an  ear 
nest  advocate  of  its  object.  I  only  give  you  the  information 
you  desire,  and  wish  you  to  follow  your  own  preferences  in  the 
matter.  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  several  letters  which  follow  are  specimens  of  a  large 
number  of  the  same  character  which  his  rigid  conscientious 
ness  compelled  him  to  write : 

"  NEAR  CARTERSVILLE,  VA.,  September  4,  1865. 

u  Major . 

"  MY  DEAR  MAJOR  :  I  have  received  your  note  of  the  1st, 
expressing  your  wish  to  use  my  name  as  reference  in  the  part 
nership  you  propose  entering  into  with  Captain ,  for  con 
ducting  a  general  commission  business  in  Richmond.  My  offi 
cial  intercourse  has  been  so  large,  and  my  military  connection 
so  extensive  with  the  people  of  the  Southern  States,  during  the 
last  four  years,  that,  were  I  to  begin  to  indorse  all  who  with 
equal  propriety  might  apply  to  me,  it  would  defeat  the  objects 
in  view.  Neither  would  I  know  how  to  discriminate  between 
those  who  in  my  opinion  possess  such  great  merit,  and  who  have 
won  my  admiration  and  regard.  Besides,  I  know  nothing  of 
commercial  affairs,  and  could  say  nothing  as  to  their  business 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  261 

capacity.  The  indorsation  of  business  men  would  be  far  more 
valuable  and  appropriate.  These  considerations  have  mainly 
compelled  me  to  decline  similar  applications  that  have  been 
made  to  me.  I  hope  they  may  be  sufficient  to  excuse  me  for  not 
violating  in  your  case  the  rule  I  have  established  for  my  guid 
ance.  I  will  do  any  thing  personally  I  can  for  your  benefit,  and 
you  may  always  be  assured  of  any  aid  I  can  with  propriety 
afford.  If  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  give  these  reasons  to 

Captain ,  from  whom  I  have  received  a  similar  application, 

and  of  the  same  date  as  yours,  it  will  serve  as  an  answer  to  him. 
With  kindest  regards  to  your  mother  and  sisters, 

"  I  am  most  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  26,  1866. 
«  Mrs. . 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM  :  It  would  give  me  much  pleasure  to  do 

any  thing  in  my  power  for  Prof. •,  who,  from  your  account, 

and  others  that  have  reached  me,  I  believe  showed  great  kind 
ness  to  our  prisoners  at  Elmira.  For  this  he  deserves,  and  will 
no  doubt  receive,  the  thanks  of  the  humane,  not  only  at  the 
South,  but  elsewhere ;  but  of  myself  I  know  nothing,  and  can 
therefore  say  nothing.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  cir 
cumstances,  and  can  state  the  facts  from  their  own  knowledge, 
are  the  persons  whose  testimony  would  be  of  weight  and  value : 
not  those  who  could  only  repeat  from  hearsay.  I  am  sorry  to 
learn  that  his  sympathy  with  the  unfortunate  has  brought  upon 
him  unkind  feelings  from  any  quarter,  but  trust  this  is  only  tem 
porary,  and  that  his  conduct  will  yet  redound  to  his  credit. 

"  Mrs.  Lee  joins  me  in  kind  regards  to  you,  and  to  your 
family.  You  must  not  think  I  have  forgotten  you ;  I  have  you 
and  yours  distinctly  in  remembrance.  As  these  letters  inclosed 
to  me  may  be  of  use  to  you,  I  return  them. 

"  With  great  respect,  I  am  very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  21,  1866. 
"  Mrs. ,  Georgetown,  D.  C. 

"  With  the  kindest  feelings  toward  Prof. ,  from  your  rep 
resentation  of  his  character,  etc.,  and  with  sincere  wishes  for  his 


362  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

welfare,  I  yet  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  his  qualifications 
for  the  position  he  seeks,  and  cannot  take  the  liberty  of  recom 
mending  him.  Testimonials,  to  be  of  value,  should  come  from 
persons  who  can  speak  positively  of  his  scientific  attainments, 
capacity  for  imparting  knowledge,  etc.,  etc.  I  cannot  state  what 
I  do  not  know.  I  regret  my  inability,  therefore,  to  comply  with 
your  wishes.  With  sentiments  of  high  esteem, 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 


"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  14,  1867. 

«  Mr. ,  Oxfwd,  Miss. 

"  MY  DEAR  Sm :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  28th 
ult,  and  regret  to  have  to  state  that  my  personal  knowledge  of 
your  qualifications  does  not  enable  me  to  give  the  statement 
you  desire,  of  your  fitness  to  teach  fencing.  I  would  recom 
mend  you  to  write  to  the  gentlemen  with  whom  you  state  you 
have  served,  and  who  doubtless  have  the  necessary  information 
for  such  evidence  as  you  require. 

"  Sincerely  sympathizing  with  you  on  account  of  your  dis 
ability,  and  wishing  you  every  happiness,  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  20,  1866. 
"  Mr. . 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  regret  to  perceive,  by  your  letter  of  the 
14th  inst.,  that  you  have  been  inconvenienced  by  my  silence. 
My  time  is  so  fully  occupied,  and  my  correspondence  so  large, 
that  I  am  only  able  to  attend  to  letters  of  business. 

"  In  your  former  letter  you  seemed  to  desire  me  to  do  what 
I  did  not  consider  was  in  my  power.  I  was  very  glad  to  read 
the  high  testimonials  in  your  favor,  written  by  gentlemen  ac 
quainted  with  you,  who  knew  what  they  stated,  and  what  I  did 
not  doubt,  but  of  which  I  had  no  personal  knowledge,  and  tc 
which  I  could  add  nothing.  I  did  not  think  that  the  testimom 
of  those  gentlemen  required  the  indorsement  of  any  one  ;  and. 
as  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  your  acquaintance,  or  any  knowledge 


HIS  SOCIAL  CHARACTER.  2G3 

beyond  what  they  stated,  I  did  not  see  how  I  could  strengthen 
it.     This  was  the  reason  of  my  not  replying  to  your  letter. 

"  Sympathizing  with  you  in  the  circumstances  which  render 
it  necessary,  in  your  opinion,  for  you  to  leave  your  home  and 
friends,  and  wishing  you  every  happiness  and  success, 
"  I  am  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  «R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  1,  1867. 
"Jfr. . 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  been  obliged  to  refuse  so  many  ap 
plications  from  my  comrades  and  friends,  to  use  my  name  in 
their  business  references,  for  reasons  which  I  think  will  occur  to 
you,  that  I  hope  you  will  excuse  me  for  not  departing  from  this 
rule  in  your  case. 

"  Wishing  you  all  success  and  happiness,  I  am,  very  respect 
fully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "RE.  LEE." 

The  following  will  be  appreciated  by  the  many  friends 
of  the  distinguished  gentleman  to  whom  it  refers  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  July  5,  1867. 
"Miss  JOSEPHINE  SEATON,  131  St.  Paul  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

"  MY  DEAR  Miss  SEATON  :  I  regret  that  I  am  unable  to>  send 
you  any  circumstance  or  event  that  would  give  interest  to  the 
history  that  is  proposed  of  your  father's  life.  My  acquaintance 
with  him,  and  your  uncle  Gales,  though  of  long  standing  and 
of  the  most  cordial  nature,  was  altogether  social  and  friendly  in 
its  relations ;  and  I  have  no  letters  from  either  on  political  or 
national  events.  I  retain  the  most  pleasing  recollections  of 
your  father's  kindness  of  manner,  gentleness  of  disposition,  and 
character  for  integrity,  and  I  grieve  deeply  at  his  death.  You 
have  my  sincere  sympathy  in  this  afflicting  event,  and  my  pray 
ers  to  Him  who  cares  for  the  fatherless,  that  He  may  guide  and 
protect  you. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 


264  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  LEXINGTON  VA.,  October  4,  1867. 
"  Colonel  C.  A.  WHITE,  Georgetown,  D.  C. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Absence  has  prevented  my  earlier  reply  to 
your  letter  of  the  27th  of  August.  I  am  unable  to  refer  to  offi 
cial  returns,  but  in  a  statement  made  in  the  fall  of  1865,  by  the 
officer  whose  business  it  was  to  prepare  them,  the  effective 
strength  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1864,  is  placed  at  forty  thousand  infantry,  six  thousand  cavalry, 
and  four  thousand  artillery,  making  fifty  thousand  in  all.  This 
corresponds  with  my  recollection.  Longstreet's  corps,  and  a 
part  of  EwelPs,  were  absent  on  that  day,  and  it  was  estimated 
that  there  were  about  twenty-five  thousand  men  engaged  in  the 
battle.  Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  November  V,  1868. 
"Bev.  SAMUEL  BOYKIN,  Macon,  Ga. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  The  death  of  General  Howell  Cobb  was  to  me, 
as  it  must  have  been  to  every  friend  of  his  country,  the  cause 
of  great  grief.  His  death  at  any  period  would  have  been  a 
great  calamity ;  but  at  a  time  when  his  wise  counsel  and  sound 
judgment  were  so  much  needed,  it  is  a  double  source  of  afflic 
tion.  My  sympathy  with  his  bereaved  family  is  as  deep  as  my 
admiration  for  his  character  is  great,  and  I  sincerely  deplore  the 
loss  sustained  by  his  friends  and  State.  There  are  none  who 
more  *  highly  appreciate  his  worth  than  myself;  but  there  are 
many  more  capable  of  writing  the  sketch  of  his  life  which  you 
propose  than  I  am,  and  to  them  I  must  leave  it. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  letter  in  reference  to  the  distinguished 
Christian  soldier  who  laid  his  life  on  the  altar  of  his  country, 
should  go  on  the  record,  and  be  handed  down  to  the  calm 
judgment  of  the  future : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  November  21,  1867. 
"  Mrs.  LEONID  AS  POLK,  Care  of  Ren.  George  Beckett,  Columbia,  Tenn. 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM  :  I  received  yesterday  your  letter  of  the 
15th,  and  it  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  furnish  you  such  in- 


1IIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  265 

formation  as  I  possess  of  your  lamented  husband,  whose  name 
and  character  are  so  dear  to  the  Southern  people.  I  only  regret 
that  my  intercourse  with  him  was  such  as  to  enable  me  to  say 
but  little  of  my  personal  knowledge.  His  career  at  West  Point, 
if  not  already  familiar  to  you,  can  be  more  fully  narrated  by  his 
classmates,  who  were  in  daily  association  with  him  ;  for,  although 
I  was  there  two  years  with  him,  he  was  in  a  class  two  years  my 
senior,  and  my  intercourse  with  him  was  not  frequent.  I  can, 
however,  say  that  he  was  considered,  by  the  officers  and  cadets 
with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  as  a  model  for  all  that  was  sol 
dierly,  gentlemanly,  and  honorable. 

"  I  do  not  now  recollect  to  have  seen  him  from  the  time  he 
left  West  Point  until  I  met  him  in  Richmond  at  the  time  he 
was  appointed  in  the  Confederate  Army.  He  then  informed  me 
that  he  had  been  offered  the  commission  of  major-general,  and  that 
its  acceptance  was  to  him  a  matter  of  grave  consideration.  Be 
fore  accepting  it,  he  intended  to  have  an  interview  with  Bishop 
Meade,  to  state  to  him  the  impressions  of  his  mind  on  the  whole 
subject.  To  his  remarks  to  me,  I  replied  that  I  could  well  con 
ceive  the  difficulties  which  presented  themselves,  and  that  in 
my  opinion  he  was  the  only  person  who  could  decide  the  ques 
tion.  I  never  saw  him  again  after  his  departure  for  Tennessee. 

"  He  alwa\7s  possessed  my  esteem  and  veneration,  and  I 
sympathize  with  you  and  the  country  at  his  death. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  letter,  written  with  no  expectation  of  its 
ever  being  published,  will  be  read  with  deep  interest,  as 
throwing  light  upon  various  points  connected  with  the  cam 
paigns  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

Every  thing  on  the  subject  coming  from  General  Lee's 
pen  will  not  only  be  eagerly  read,  and  implicitly  believed, 
but  will  increase  the  general  regret  that  he  was  not  spared 
to  give  to  the  world  the  history  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia — a  book  which  the  world  would  have  received  as 
truth : 


266  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  15,  1868. 
"  WM.  M.  MCDONALD,  Cool  Spring,  near  Berryville,  Clcvrke  County,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAK  SIR  :  I  thank  you  for  your  kind  letter  of  the  3d 
inst,  which  I  have  been  unable  to  answer  till  to-day.  I  hope 
that  your  school  history  may  be  of  such  character  as  will  insure 
its  broadest  circulation,  and  prove  both  interesting  and  instruc 
tive  to  the  youth  of  the  whole  country. 

"  As  regards  the  information  you  desire,  if  you  will  refer  to 
my  official  report  of  March  6, 1863,  which  was  published  in  Rich 
mond  in  1864,  you  will  find  the  general  reasons  which  governed 
my  actions ;  but  whether  they  will  be  satisfactory  to  others  is 
problematical.  In  relation  to  your  first  question,  I  will  state 
that,  in  crossing  the  Potomac,  I  did  not  propose  to  invade  the 
North,  for  I  did  not  believe  that  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
was  strong  enough  for  the  purpose,  nor  was  I  in  any  degree  in 
fluenced  by  popular  expectation.  My  movement  was  simply  in 
tended  to  threaten  Washington,  call  the  Federal  Army  north  of 
that  river,  relieve  our  territory,  and  enable  us  to  subsist  the 
army.  I  considered  it  useless  to  attack  the  fortifications  around 
Alexandria  and  Washington,  behind  which  the  Federal  Army 
had  taken  refuge,  and,  indeed,  I  could  not  have  maintained  the 
army  in  Fairfax,  so  barren  was  it  of  subsistence,  and  so  devoid 
were  we  of  transportation.  After  reaching  Frederick  City, 
finding  that  the  enemy  still  retained  his  positions  at  Martins- 
burg  and  Harper's  Ferry,  and  that  it  became  necessary  to  dis 
lodge  him  in  order  to  open  our  communication  through  the  Val 
ley  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  Richmond  the  ammunition, 
clothing,  etc.,  of  which  we  were  in  great  need — after  detaching 
the  necessary  troops  for  the  purpose,  I  was  left  with  but  two 
divisions,  Longstreet's  and  D.  H.  Hill's,  to  mask  the  operation. 
That  was  entirely  too  weak  a  force  to  march  on  Baltimore, 
which  you  say  was  expected,  even  if  such  a  movement  had  been 
expedient. 

"  As  to  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  I  must  again  refer  you  to 
my  official  accounts.  Its  loss  was  occasioned  by  a  combination 
of  circumstances.  It  was  commenced  in  the  absence  of  correct 
intelligence.  It  was  continued  in  the  effort  to  overcome  the 
difficulties  by  which  we  were  surrounded,  and  it  would  have  been 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  £67 

gained  could  one  determined  and  united  blow  have  been  deliv 
ered  by  our  whole  line.  As  it  was,  victory  trembled  in  the  bal 
ance  for  three  days,  and  the  battle  resulted  in  the  infliction  of  as 
great  an  amount  of  injury  as  was  received,  and  in  frustrating 
the  Federal  campaign  for  the  season. 

"  I  think  you  will  find  the  answer  to  your  third  question  in 
my  report  of  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  In  taking  up  the  po 
sition  there,  it  was  with  the  view  of  resisting  General  Burnside's 
advance  after  crossing  the  Rappahannock,  rather  than  of  pre 
venting  its  passage. 

"  The  plain  of  Fredericksburg  is  completely  commanded  by 
the  heights  of  Stafford,  which  prevented  our  occupying  it  in  the 
first  instance. 

"  Nearly  the  whole  loss  that  our  army  sustained  during  the 
battle  arose  from  the  pursuit  of  the  repulsed  Federal  columns 
into  the  plain.  To  have  advanced  the  whole  army  into  the  plain 
for  the  purpose  of  attacking  General  Burnside,  would  have  been 
to  have  insured  its  destruction  by  the  fire  from  the  continued 
line  of  guns  on  the  Stafford  Hills.  It  was  considered  more  wise 
to  meet  the  Federal  army  beyond  the  reach  of  their  batteries 
than  under  their  muzzles,  and  even  to  invite  repeated  renewal  of 
tlieir  attacks.  When  convinced  of  their  inutility,  it  was  easy 
for  them  under  cover  of  a  long,  dark,  and  tempestuous  night  to 
cross  the  narrow  river  by  means  of  their  numerous  bridges  be 
fore  we  could  ascertain  their  purpose. 

"  I  have  been  obliged  to  be  very  brief  in  my  remarks,  but  I 
hope  that  I  have  been  able  to  present  to  you  some  facts  which 
may  be  useful  to  you  in  drawing  correct  conclusions.  I  must 
ask  that  you  will  consider  what  I  have  said  as  intended  solely 
for  yourself.  Very  respectfully  and  tt-uly  yours, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  is  of  most  valuable  historic  interest,  as 
showing  the  great  disparity  of  numbers  between  General 
Lee's  army  and  that  of  his  adversary  : 

"  General  WM.  S.  SMITH.  WARM  SPRINGS,  VA.,  July  27,  1868. 

"  MY  DEAE  SIB  :  Your  letter  has  been  forwarded  to  me  from 
Lexington.  My  official  records  have  been  destroyed;  and  in 


2G8  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT   E.    LEE. 

the  absence  of  such  other  information  as  is  accessible  to  me,  I 
am  obliged  to  answer  your  inquiries  from  memory. 

"  The  number  of  effective  men  under  my  command  on  May 
4,  1864,  of  all  arms,  was  between  forty-five  and  fifty  thousand. 
The  losses  in  the  several  battles  up  to  June  17th  I  do  not  recol 
lect  ;  but  at  the  time  of  withdrawing  from  the  lines  around  Rich 
mond  and  Petersburg,  the  number  of  troops  amounted  to  about 
thirty -five  thousand. 

"Notwithstanding  the  demonstrations  made  against  our 
front  and  left  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign  of  1864,  I  be 
lieved  that  General  Grant  would  cross  the  Rapidan  on  our  right, 
and  resolved  to  attack  him  whenever  he  presented  himself. 

"  As  regards  the  movements  of  General  Sherman,  it  was  easy 
to  see  that,  unless  they  were  interrupted,  I  should  be  compelled 
to  abandon  the  defense  of  Richmond,  and  with  a  view  of  arrest 
ing  his  progress  I  so  weakened  my  force  by  sending  reenforce- 
ments  to  South  and  North  Carolina,  that  I  had  not  sufficient 
men  to  man  the  lines.  Had  they  not  been  broken,  I  should 
have  abandoned  them  as  soon  as  General  Sherman  reached 
the  Roanoke. 

"  I  have  understood  that  the  Confederate  military  records 
are  in  one  of  the  bureaus  at  Washington.  If  so,  the  official 
returns  of  the  Army  of  North  Virginia  will  be  found  among 
them,  and  exact  information  can  be  obtained.  I  regret  that  my 
information  should  be  so  indefinite ;  but,  such  as  it  is,  I  send  it 
for  your  own  satisfaction. 

"  Wishing  you  health  and  happiness,  I  remain  very  respect 
fully  yours,  R.  E.  LEE.'* 


"WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  4J  1868. 
"Mr  DEAR  SIR:    I  inclose    fifty  dollars  of   the   fund  con 
tributed  by  the  Faculty  and  students  for  the  religious  exercises 
of  the  college ;  not  in  compensation  for  your  voluntary  services, 
but  in  grateful  testimony  of  them. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.E.  LEE, 

"Rev.  J.  WILLIAM  JONES." 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  269 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  25,  1868. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  thank  you  most  cordially  for  the  valuable 
collection  of  minerals  forwarded  with  your  letter  of  the  17th  ult. 

"Notwithstanding  their  journey  from  the  Pacific,  they  were 
so  well  packed  that  they  arrived  in  perfect  order,  and  are  among 
the  most  valuable  specimens  in  our  cabinet,  as  they  go  far  to 
supply  the  places  of  the  gold  and  silver  ores  carried  away  dur 
ing  the  war. 

"  As  a  contribution  to  Washington  College  by  the  son  of  my 
friend  and  comrade  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston — one  of 
the  bravest,  truest,  and  noblest  men  I  have  ever  known — they 
are  particularly  prized. 

"I  beg  that  you  will  present  my  kindest  regards  to  your 
mother,  sister,  and  brother,  and  accept  my  best  wishes  for  your 
own  health  and  happiness. 

"  Very  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE. 

"  Mr.  HANCOCK  M.  JOHNSTON." 

"WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  VA.,  June  23,  1868. 
"Dr.  S.  MAUPIN,  Chairman  of  Faculty  of  University  of  Virginia. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR:  In  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Fac 
ulty  of  Washington  College,  passed  at  their  last  regular  meet 
ing,  I  have  to  present  their  thanks  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Uni- 
versitv  of  Virginia  for  their  invitation  to  attend  the  closing 
exercises  of  the  university  the  present  session ;  and  to  express 
their  regret  that  duties,  public  and  private,  prevent  them  from 
accepting  it,  though  it  is  hoped  that  several  individual  members 
will  be  able  to  be  present  on  that  interesting  occasion. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient 
servant,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  18,  1868. 

"DEAR  SIR  :  I  entirely  concur  with  you  in  the  opinion  that 
the  education  and  advancement  of  the  colored  people  at  the 
South  can  be  better  attended  to  by  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  their  characters  and  wants  than  by  those  who  are  ignorant 
of  both;  and  I  would  recommend  you  to  place  such  funds  as 
you  may  have  for  their  benefit  in  the  hands  of  ministers  of  your 


270  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

own  Church,  who,  I  am  sure,  would  expend  them  judiciously, 
and  in  whose  fidelity  you  would  naturally  have  faith.  You  are 
probably  acquainted  with  many,  either  personally  or  by  reputa 
tion,  to  whom  you  might  confide  the  trust.  I  can  name  to  you 
two  gentlemen  of  Richmond,  Va.,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Hoge  and 
Brown,  on  whose  judgment,  kindness,  and  integrity,  you  can 
safely  rely.  From  their  position  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  location  at  Richmond,  they  may  be  able  to  attend  to  the 
matter.  I  could  not  attend  to  it — on  account  of  other  duties 
and  my  isolated  position — nor  do  I  know  any  colored  preacher 
competent  to  take  charge  of  the  matter.  The  colored  people  in 
this  vicinity  are  doing  very  well,  are  progressing  favorably,  and, 
as  far  as  I  know,  are  not  in  want.  There  is  abundance  of  work 
for  them,  and  the  whites  with  whom  they  are  associated  retain 
for  them  the  kindest  feelings. 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  8,  1869. 

"  MY  DEAK  SIK  :  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  letter  of 
the  29th  ult.,  which  I  am  sure  has  been  prompted  by  the  best  of 
motives.  I  should  be  glad  if  General  Grant  would  visit  Wash 
ington  College,  when  I  would  endeavor  to  treat  him  with  the 
courtesy  and  respect  due  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
But  if  I  were  to  invite  him  to  do  so,  it  might  not  be  agreeable 
to  him,  and  I  fear,  at  this  time,  my  motives  might  be  misunder 
stood,  both  by  himself  and  others,  and  that  evil  would  result 
instead  of  good.  I  will,  however,  bear  your  suggestion  in  mind, 
and,  should  a  favorable  opportunity  offer,  will  be  glad  to  take 
advantage  of  it. 

"Wishing  you  happiness  and  prosperity,  I  am,  very  respect 
fully,  your  obedient  servant,  R.  E.  LEE." 


"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  5,  1868. 
"  Mr. ,  Savannah,  Ga. 

"MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  return  you  my  thanks  for  the  copy  of 
the  records  of  the  Union  Society  of  the  city  of  Savannah,  an 
organization  almost  coeval  with  the  colonization  of  Georgia. 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  271 

which  by  its  sacred  works  of  charity  in  which  it  has  been  labor 
ing  for  more  than  a  century  has  endeared  itself  to  the  benevo 
lent  throughout  the  country.  In  its  new  career  upon  the  site  of 
the  ancient  Bethesda,  on  an  enlarged  and  wider  field,  I  trust 
that  its  prosperity  may  be  equal  to  its  former  usefulness.  In  re 
ply  to  your  renewed  invitation  to  deliver  before  the  Society  the 
anniversary  address,  I  am  unable  to  give  a  different  answer  from 
that  I  made  to  your  personal  application.  I  regret  my  inability 
to  comply  with  your  request,  and  assure  you  that  it  would 
afford  me  great  pleasure  to  revisit  Savannah,  a  city  to  which  I 
have  been  long  attached,  and  in  whose  citizens  I  feel  the  deep 
est  interest.  For  your  cordial  invitation  to  your  house,  please 
accept  my  hearty  thanks. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  R  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  12,  1869. 
"  Colonel . 

"  MY  DEAK  SIR  :  Your  generous  proposition  to  give  two  lect 
ures  for  the  benefit  of  the  Rockbridge  Bible  Society,  has  been 
laid  before  the  executive  committee,  and  I  have  been  requested 
to  thank  you  most  cordially  for  your  kind  offer,  arid  to  say  that, 
under  the  constitution  and  direction  of  the  society,  the  several 
churches  in  the  county  have  been  appealed  to  for  the  means 
to  accomplish  the  object  in  view ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  in  this 
manner  sufficient  funds  will  be  obtained.  They  therefore  con 
sider  it  inexpedient  to  resort  to  other  means  without  express 
direction  from  the  society. 

"  In  addition  to  the  thanks  of  the  committee,  I  beg  you  will 
accept  my  personal  acknowledgments  for  your  kind  expressions 
toward  myself,  and  will  be  assured  that  they  are  reciprocated. 
You  have  my  earnest  wishes  for  your  success  and  prosperity  in 
this  life,  and  my  fervent  prayers  for  eternal  peace  and  happiness 
in  the  world  to  come. 

"  Very  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  12,  1869. 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS. :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 

16th  inst.,  and  heartily  sympathize  in  your  distress  concerning 


272  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

your  son.     I  have  requested  Prof.  W to  communicate  to  me 

such  information  as  he  has  of  the  street  difficulty  in  which  he  was 
involved.  His  letter,  which  I  inclose,  and  the  resolution  passed 
by  the  Faculty  on  the  subject,  contain  all  the  information  I  have 
on  the  subject.  On  the  first  arrival  of  your  son  at  college  I  was 
especially  impressed  with  his  appearance  and  manner,  and  was 
anxious  that  he  should  be  favorably  located.  Until  the  occur 
rence  which  caused  him  to  leave  college,  I  had  remarked  nothing 
objectionable  in  his  conduct  but  what  might  be  attributed  to 
youthful  indiscretion  and  thoughtlessness  ;  and  as  one  of  these 
instances  was  calculated  to  teach  him  to  what  such  conduct 
would  reasonably  lead,  I  was  in  hopes  his  own  good  sense  would 
correct  it.  I,  however,  hope  that  this  last  occurrence  will  teach 
him  a  lesson  that  he  will  never  forget,  and  save  him  and  you  from 
future  distress.  I  hope  that  he  has  safely  reached  you  before 
this,  and  that  his  contrition  and  conduct  will  relieve  you  from 
further  anxiety. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  13,  1869. 

"  MY  DEAR  Miss  JONES  :  After  long  and  diligent  inquiry,  I 
only  this  moment  learned  your  address,  and  have  been  during 
this  ^  time  greatly  mortified  at  my  inability  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  and  disposition  of  your  valuable  and  interesting  donation 
to  Washington  College.  The  books  were  arranged  in  the  library 
on  their  arrival ;  the  globes  in  the  philosophical  department ;  and 
the  furniture,  carpets,  sofas,  chairs,  etc.,  have  been  applied  to 
the  furnishing  of  the  dais  of  the  audience-room  of  the  new  chapel, 
to  the  comfort  and  ornament  of  which  they  are  a  great  addition. 
I  have  yet  made  no  disposition  of  the  plate  and  table-ware,  and 
they  are  still  in  the  boxes  in  which  they  came.  I  inclose  the 
resolution  of  thanks  passed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  col 
lege  at  their  annual  meeting,  to  which  I  beg  to  add  my  personal 
acknowledgments  and  grateful  sense  of  your  favor  and  kindness 
to  this  institution,  and  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  if  you 
would  visit  Lexington  at  the  commencement  in  June  next,  the 
third  Thursday,  that  I  might  then  show  you  the  successful  opera- 


HIS   SOCIAL  CHARACTER.  273 

tion  of  the  college.  Mrs.  Lee  joins  me  in  sentiments  of  esteem 
and  regard,  praying  that  the  great  and  merciful  God  may  throw 
around  you  his  protecting  care  and  love. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE. 
"  Miss  ANNE  UPSHUK  JONES,  38  Union  Square,  New  York" 

The   following  extract   contains   a  bit   of   quiet  humor 

worth  preserving : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  12,  1869. 

" .  .  .  .  Mrs.  Lee  has  determined  to  act  upon  your  sugges 
tion,  and  apply  to  President  Johnson  for  such  of  the  relics  from 
Arlington  as  are  in  the  Patent-Office.  From  what  I  have  learned, 
a  great  many  things  formerly  belonging  to  General  Washington, 
bequeathed  to  her  by  her  father,  in  the  shape  of  books,  furniture, 
camp  equipage,  etc.,  were  carried  away  by  individuals,  and  are 
now  scattered  over  the  land.  I  hope  the  possessors  appreciate 
them,  and  may  imitate  the  example  of  their  original  owner, 
whose  conduct  must  at  times  be  brought  to  their  recollection 
by  these  silent  monitors.  In  this  way  they  will  accomplish  good 
to  the  country." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  22,  1860. 
"  Hon.  GEORGE  W.  JONES,  P.  0.  Box  52,  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  very  much  gratified  at  the  reception 
this  morning  of  your  letter  of  the  16th  inst.,  inclosing  for  my  pe 
rusal  one  that  you  had  received  from  General  A.  C.  Dodge,  and 
which,  as  you  have  given  me  permission,  I  will  retain ;  not 
merely  for  the  kind  sentiments  toward  me,  which  I  feel  I  ill  de 
serve,  but  in  remembrance  of  the  writer. 

"  Were  it  worth  his  while  to  refer  to  my  political  record,  he 
would  have  found  that  I  was  not  iu  favor  of  secession,  and  was 
opposed  to  war;  in  fact,  that  I  was  for  the  Constitution  and 
the  Union  established  by  our  forefathers.  No  one  now  is  more 
in  favor  of  that  Constitution  and  that  Union ;  and,  as  far  as  I 
know,  it  is  that  for  which  the  South  has  all  along  contended ;  and 
if  restored,  as  I  trust  they  will  be,  I  am  sure  there  will  be  no 
truer  supporters  of  that  Union  and  that  Constitution  than  the 
18 


274    REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Southern  people.  But  I  must  not  wander  into  politics,  a  sub 
ject  I  carefully  avoid,  and  will  return  to  your  letter.  Your  com 
munication  of  the  15th  of  January  last  was  especially  pleasing 
to  me,  and  I  am  very  glad  to  have  authenticated,  under  your 
own  name,  statements  which  were  made  to  me  at  the  time  of 

General  's  removal,  as  well  as  your  high  opinion  of  his 

character.  I  have  never  been  associated  with  a  person  who,  as 
far  as  my  knowledge  extended,  labored  more  earnestly  or  more 
honestly  for  the  Government  and  the  welfare  of  the  people  than 
he  did.  When  you  next  come  to  Virginia,  I  hope  that  you  will 
not  halt  on  the  borders,  but  penetrate  the  interior  of  the  State, 
and  that  you  will  come  to  Lexington.  We  shall  be  very  glad 
to  see  you,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  be  repaid  for  your  journey 
by  the  pleasure  which  you  will  see  your  visit  affords  us. 

"  Though  rather  late,  I  must  thank  you  for  introducing  me 

to  your  friend  Mrs. ,  whom  I  met  last  summer  at  the  Warm 

Springs.  We  found  her  and  her  sister  most  agreeable  compan 
ions  and  charming  ladies.  I  wished  to  write  to  you  at  that 
time,  but  they  can  tell  you  how  closely  I  was  occupied  night 
and  day,  in  nursing  a  sick  daughter.  I  have  thought  of  your 
friends  very  often  since  their  departure,  and  hope  that  their  health 
has  been  permanently  benefited  by  their  visit  to  our  mountains 
and  that  they  will  be  encouraged  to  repeat  it. 

"  Please  present  my  kindest  regards  to  every  member  of  your 
family,  especially  to  your  brave  sons  who  aided  in  our  struggle 
for  States  rights  and  constitutional  government. 

"  We  failed,  but  in  the  good  providence  of  God  apparent 
failure  often  proves  a  blessing.  I  trust  it  may  eventuate  so  in 
this  instance.  In  reference  to  certain  articles  which  were  taken 
from  Arlington,  about  which  you  inquire,  Mrs.  Lee  is  indebted 
to  our  old  friend  Captain  James  May  for  the  order  from  the 
late  Administration  for  their  restoration  to  her.  'Congress, 
however,  passed  a  resolution  forbidding  their  return.  They  were 
valuable  to  her  as  having  belonged  to  her  great-grandmother, 
and  having  been  bequeathed  to  her  by  her  father.  But,  as  the 
country  desires  them,  she  must  give  them  up.  I  hope  their  pres 
ence  at  the  capital  will  keep  in  the  remembrance  of  all  Ameri 
cans  the  principles  and  virtues  of  Washington. 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  275 

"  With  my  earnest  prayers  for  the  peace  and  happiness  of 
yourself  and  all  your  family,  I  am,  with  true  regard, 

"  Your  friend  and  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  26,  1869. 

" ,  Esq,,  Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming  Terr. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  bea 
ver-robe  which  you  have  been  so  kind  as  to  send  me.  It  is  the 
handsomest  fur-robe  that  I  have  ever  seen,  and,  while  protecting 
me  from  the  wintry  winds  of  our  mountains,  will  remind  me  con 
tinually  of  your  repeated  kindnesses.  I  sympathized  deeply 
with  you  and  your  wife,  when  your  brave  son  fell  at  the  head 
of  his  company,  under  the  gallant  Stuart,  in  the  struggle  of  the 
Southern  States  for  the  right  of  constitutional  government.  But 
lie,  I  trust,  is  happy,  and  I  pray  that  you  may  all  be  again  united 
in  heaven.  With  my  kindest  regards  and  best  wishes  for  your 
happiness,  I  am  very  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  is  in  reply  to  an  offer  of  the  artist  to  pre 
sent  him  with  his  great  painting,  "  The  Meeting  between  Lee 
and  Jackson : " 

"WHITE  SULPHUR  SPRINGS,  W.  VA.,  August  21,  1869. 
"  Q.  D.  JULIO,  St.  Louis,  No. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  sentiments 
expressed  toward  me  in  your  letter  of  the  10th,  and  I  am  grate 
ful  for  your  intention  to  present  to  me  the  picture  you  describe. 
It  is  not  that  I  do  not  appreciate  your  feelings,  or  value  your 
kindness,  that  I  cannot  accept  your  picture,  but  that  I  desire 
you  to  have  all  the  benefit  as  well  as  the  credit  of  your  labors. 
I  will  retain  your  letter  as  the  pleasing  evidence  of  your  gener 
ous  purpose,  and  with  my  best  wishes  for  the  realization  of  your 
aspirations  and  for  your  complete  success  in  your  profession, 
"  I  am,  etc.,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  VA.,  September  25,  1869. 
"  F.  POOLE,  Secretary  Pedbody  Institute,  Peabody,  Mass. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  send  a 
photograph  of  myself,  the  last  that  has  been  taken,  and  shall 


276  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

feel  honored  in  its  being  placed  among  the  '  friends '  of  Mr. 
Peabody,  for  though  they  can  be  numbered  by  millions,  yet  all 
can  appreciate  the  man  who  has  illustrated  his  age  by  his  mu 
nificent  charities  during  his  life,  and  by  his  wise  provisions  for 
promoting  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-creatures, 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LKXINGTON  VA.,  September  27,  18^9. 
"  Mr.  GEORGE  PEABODY  RUSSELL,  Salem,  Mass. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  of  the  22d  reached  me  by 
the  last  mail,  and  I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  your  interest 
in  Washington  College,  and  your  desire  to  insure  its  endow 
ment.  The  act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  February  27,  J86G 
modifying  the  charter  of  Washington  College,  as  you  will  see  by 
the  copies  of  the  charter  and  by-laws  herewith  sent,  established 
its  legal  title  *  Washington  College,  Virginia,'  which  is  its  cor 
porate  name.  Should  the  college  never  receive  the  fund  gener 
ously  presented  by  Mr.  Peabody,  I  shall  be  as  grateful  to  him 
for  his  kind  intentions  as  if  it  had ;  but,  if  it  is  realized,  it  will 
enable  the  college  to  extend  its  instructions  and  enlarge  its 
usefulness.  Last  year  the  college  gave  about  fifty  free  scholar 
ships,  that  is,  free  tuition  to  fifty  young  men,  and  this  year  it 
will  have  to  exceed  that  number,  or  exclude  meritorious  youths 
who  are  unable  to  pay  for  their  tuition.  These  free  scholarships 
embrace  the  following  classes:  Young  men  seeking  to  enter 
the  Christian  ministry  of  every  denomination ;  young  men  in 
tending  to  make  practical  printing  and  journalism  their  business 
in  life ;  meritorious  young  men  who  are  unable  to  pay  the  col 
lege  fees.  Students  standing  first  in  certain  high-schools  and 
academies  throughout  the  country  receive  prize  scholarships  as 
an  incentive  to  study.  Honorary  scholarships  are  awarded  to 
students  of  the  college  as  a  reward  for  high  attainments  in 
scholarship,  and  two  hundred  dollars  are  annually  given  to  three 
graduates  of  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  who  also  receive  free 
tuition  to  enable  them  to  prosecute  certain  courses  of  study. 
These  free  scholarships  are  granted  to  promote  the  cause  of  edu 
cation  and  of  learning,  and,  to  be  continued  or  enlarged,  require 


EIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  277 

the  appropriation  of  funds  by  the  college.  I  send  you  one  of 
the  catalogues  of  the  college,  which,  if  you  have  time  to  examine 
it,  will  explain  what  we  are  now  doing,  and  what  we  propose  to 
do  whenever  our  means  will  permit.  .  .  . 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  the  health  of  Mr.  Peabody  and 
your  own  happiness,  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Most  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  graceful  acknowledgment  of  a  compliment 
paid  him  by  Mr.  George  Long,  Jr.  (son  of  Prof.  George  Long), 
of  England,  is  but  a  specimen  of  many  similar  letters  which 
he  wrote : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  December  8,  1869. 
a  Dr.  J.  L.  CABELL,  University  of  Virginia. 

"  MY  DEAR  DOCTOR  :  I  am  obliged  to  you  for  informing  me 
of  the  desire  of  George  Long,  Jr.,  to  possess  my  photograph,  and 
I  take  pleasure  in  forwarding  it  to  one  who  has  so  kindly  shown 
his  interest  in  the  South,  and  has  extended  to  her  people  his 
warm  sympathy.  Such  liberal  conduct  is  the  natural  result  of 
an  enlarged  mind  and  cultivated  intellect,  to  which  he  is  enti 
tled  by  inheritance,  birth,  and  education ;  and  it  is  pleasing  to 
contemplate  one  in  whom  all  are  combined.  With  my  grateful 
thanks  to  him  and  his  highly-esteemed  father,  and  my  sincere 
regard  for  yourself  and  Mrs.  Cabell, 

"I  am  very  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  14,  1869. 
'*  General  J.  B.  GORDON,  President  Southern  ) 
Life  Insurance  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga.       f 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  3d 
inst.,  and  am  duly  sensible  of  the  kind  feelings  which  prompted 
your  proposal.  It  would  be  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  be  asso 
ciated  with  you,  Hampton,  B.  H.  Hill,  and  the  other  good 
men  whose  names  I  see  on  your  list  of  directors,  but  I  feel 
that  I  ought  not  to  abandon  the  position  I  hold  at  Washington 
College  at  this  time  or  as  long  as  I  can  be  of  service  to  it. 
Thanking  you  for  your  kind  consideration,  to  which  I  know  I  am 


278  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

alone  indebted  for  your  proposition  to  become  the  President  of 
the  Southern  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  with  my  kindest  re 
gards  to  Mrs.  Gordon,  and  my  best  wishes  for  yourself, 

"  I  am  very  truly  yours,  R  E.  LEE." 

"  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  January  7,  1870. 
"Messrs.  LEWIS  ALLEN,  etc.,  Committee  of  Invitation,  Peabody,  Mass. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  Tn  transmitting  a  copy  of  the  resolutions 
of  the  Trustees  of  Washington  College  in  reference  to  the 
death  and  funeral  of  Mr.  George  Peabody,  I  beg  leave  to  ex 
press  my  regret  at  being  prevented  by  indisposition  from  unit 
ing  with  the  citizens  of  his  native  town  in  paying  the  last  but 
grateful  respect  to  his  mortal  remains,  in  accordance  with  your 
invitation  and  the  request  of  the  trustees  of  the  college.  Though 
debarred  from  being  present  at  his  obsequies,  his  memory  will 
live  in  the  hearts  of  the  Southern  people,  and  his  virtues  be  re 
vered  by  unborn  generations. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.LEE." 

The  distinguished  gentleman  to  whom  the  following  was 
addressed  was  (together  with  Prof.  Long)  one  of  the  able 
corps  of  English  professors  whom  Jefferson  induced  to  come 
as  the  first  Faculty  of  the  University  of  Virginia : 

"  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  19,  1870. 
"  Prof.  J.  HEWITT  KEY,  M.  A.,  F.  R.  £,  ) 
21  Westbourne  Square,  W.  London.       ) 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received,  by  the  hands  of  Colonel  Me- 
Cullough,  the  two  volumes  you  have  presented  to  the  library  of 
Washington  College,  a  copy  of  your  '  Philological  Essays,'  and 
of  your  '  Latin  Grammar.'  They  are  highly  valued  for  their 
intrinsic  merit,  and  for  the  kind  feelings  their  donation  evinces 
toward  a  State  for  whose  benefit  the  labors  of  your  early  life 
were  so  well  bestowed,  and  by  whose  people  your  memory  is 
still  warmly  cherished.  I  beg  also  to  return  you  my  sincere 
thanks  for  the  kindness  extended  to  Colonel  McCullough  during 
his  visit  to  London,  and  for  the  interest  you  take  in  Washington 


HIS  SOCIAL  CHARACTER.  279 

College.  You  will  lay  me  under  additional  obligations  if  you 
will  present  my  regards  to  your  former  colleague,  Prof.  George 
Long,  and  my  grateful  thanks  for  his  excellent  translation  of 
the  Thoughts  of  the  Emperor  M.  Aurelius  Antoninus,  my  ac 
knowledgments  for  which  I  hope  have  reached  him. 

"  Wishing  you  much  happiness  and  continued  usefulness,  I 
am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  YA.,  February  19,  18*70. 
"  Monsieur  DEVISMES,  Fdbricant  des  Armes,  ) 
Boulevard  des  Italiens,  Paris.  \ 

"  SIR  :  Colonel  McCullough,  since  his  return  from  France, 
has  described  to  me  his  interesting  visit  to  your  laboratory,  and 
your  friendly  feelings  to  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  of 
North  America.  I  am,  therefore,  induced,  in  presenting  to  you 
my  thanks  for  the  skillful  workmanship  you  bestowed  upon  the 
beautiful  sword  sent  me  by  a  friend  in  Paris  in  1863,  to  express 
to  you  my  gratitude  for  your  kind  sentiments  toward  the  people 
of  the  South. 

"  With  much  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  26,  1870. 

"  General  WILLIAM  S.  HARNEY,  Major- General  U.  S.  A.,  \ 

St.  Louis,  Mo.  \ 

"MY  DEAR  GENERAL:  I  have  learned,  through  a  letter  from 
General  Lilly  to  a  member  of  the  Endowment  Committee  of 
Washington  College,  your  kind  sentiments  toward  the  institu 
tion,  and  of  your  generous  donation  for  the  endowment  of  the 
presidential  chair.  This  information  recalls  so  vividly  to  my 
mind  the  kind  acts  extended  to  me  in  former  years,  that  I  hope 
you  will  allow  me,  in  thanking  you  in  the  name  of  the  trustees 
of  the  college  for  your  aid  in  their  plans  of  education,  to  express 
to  you  my  individual  thanks  for  the  manner  in  which  it  ha? 
been  bestowed. 

"  Wishing  you  health  and  happiness,  I  am,  very  respect 
fully,  etc.,  R.  E.  LEE." 


280  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

The  following  is  to  the  widow  of  the  late  Confederate 
Secretary  of  War,  General  Eandolph : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  8,  1870. 
"  Mrs.  GEO.  W.  EANDOLPH,  504  Or  ace  Street,  Richmond,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  RANDOLPH  :  I  have  felt  great  interest  in 
the  success  of  the  scheme  of  the  Hollywood  Memorial  Associa 
tion  of  Richmond,  for  the  removal  of  the  Confederate  dead  at 
Gettysburg,  since  learning  of  the  neglect  of  their  remains  on 
the  battle-field.  I  hope  that  sufficient  funds  may  be  collected  to 
enable  the  Association  to  accomplish  this  pious  work,  and  I 
feel  assured  that  it  will  receive  the  grateful  thanks  of  the  humane 
and  benevolent.  May  1  request  you  to  apply  the  inclosed  amount 
to  this  object  ? 

"  I  have  been  greatly  pleased  to  hear  of  your  improved 
health,  and  trust,  for  the  benefit  of  the  afflicted,  and  the  comfort 
of  your  friends,  you  may  be  entirely  restored. 

"  With  great  respect  and  esteem,  I  am  your  most  obedient 
servant,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  16,  1870. 
"Hon.  THOMAS  MARTIN,  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,  Annapolis. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  read  with  great  pleasure  your  speech 
before  the  House  of  Delegates  of  Maryland  on  the  17th  ult.,  ad 
vocating  an  appropriation  for  burying  the  Confederate  dead  at 
Point  Lookout,  in  St.  Mary's  County,  Md.,  which  you  were  so  kind 
as  to  send  me  in  your  letter  of  the  10th  inst.  It  would  be  a  great 
relief  to  the  sorrow  of  the  friends  of  those  brave  men,  should 
their  earthly  remains  receive  the  care  and  respect  you  propose, 
and  the  ladies  of  your  county  as  well  as  the  people  of  your  gen 
erous  State  would  share  their  heart-felt  gratitude. 

"  The  ladies  composing  the  Hollywood  Memorial  Association 
in  Virginia  are  endeavoring  to  remove  the  neglected  bodies  of 
the  Confederate  dead  from  the  battle-field  of  Gettysburg  to  their 
cemetery  at  Richmond,  but  the  contributions  for  this  purpose, 
owing  to  the  poverty  of  our  people,  are  as  yet  so  small  that 
they  are  not  able  to  accomplish  it.  We  are,  therefore,  the  more 
grateful  to  Maryland  for  the  provision  she  has  made  and  still 


HIS  SOCIAL   CHARACTER.  281 

contemplates  for  this  object.  Those  whose  final  resting-place  is 
in  her  soil,  we  feel,  will  be  properly  cared  for. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,      R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  17,  1870. 
"  Mrs.  MARY  E.  EANDOLPH,  504  Grace  Street,  Richmond,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAJR  MRS.  RANDOLPH  :  My  former  letter  was  intended 
for  your  own  eyes,  and  I  am  always  reluctant  to  be  brought  un 
necessarily  before  the  public.  Still,  if  you  think  its  publication 
will  be  any  aid  to  the  cause  which  the  Hollywood  Memorial  As 
sociation  has  so  kindly  undertaken,  I  cannot  refuse  the  slight 
assistance  in  my  power.  I  send  you  a  letter  recently  received 
from  the  Hon.  Thomas  Martin,  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Mary 
land,  and  an  article  that  was  sent  to  me  from  the  Baltimore  Sun, 
that  you  may  see  what  Maryland  proposes  to  do  for  the  decent 
interment  of  the  Confederate  dead  on  her  soil.  I  think,  if  the 
Hollywood  Memorial  Association  would  place  itself  in  communi 
cation  with  the  committee  or  trustees  charged  with  the  appli 
cation  of  the  funds  appropriated  by  the  State,  that  it  might 
result  to  their  mutual  benefit.  To  obtain  aid  from  the  South, 
where  all  have  to  give  out  of  their  poverty,  individuals  or  com 
mittees  should  be  delegated  in  each  State,  to  canvass  or  other 
wise  appeal  to  each  county  for  the  small  amounts  they  can  spare 
from  their  subsistence,  with  the  understanding  that  what  is 
received  from  each  State  will  be  applied  first  for  the  removal  of 
the  dead  from  that  State.  It  is  needless  to  wait  for  their  unsoli 
cited  offerings.  The  Rev.  Dr. ,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  an 

ardent  friend  of  the  South,  intends  visiting  different  sections  in 
aid  of  religious  objects,  and  has  offered  specially  to  advocate  this 
object.  Mrs.  Lee  sent  you  his  letter,  which  I  hope  you  have  re 
ceived.  This  is  one  way  of  bringing  this  enterprise  to  the  notice 
of  the  people.  I  am  sorry  that  you  could  not  confirm  the  favor 
able  accounts.  I  had  received  of  your  health,  but  I  trust  you  will 
soon  do  so. 

"  You  must  get  well.  Mrs.  Lee  and  my  daughters  send  theii 
affectionate  love. 

"  With  kindest  regards,  I  am  yours  most  truly, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 


282  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Pages  more  could  be  easily  written  illustrating  General 
Lee's  polite  kindness,  his  social  disposition,  and  his  tender 
regard  for  the  feelings  of  others ;  but  the  above  must  suffice, 
while  I  pass  to  another  phase  of  his  character  equally  marked, 
but  not  at  all  inconsistent  with  this. 


3 


se  of  what  was 
*od  this. 

lent  once  oame  to  Lexington  to 
'"into  when  he  indicated   his  purpose  the 

• 

• 
my  piv 

' 

i 


for 


o7  sir ;  I 

id  never 
read 


284  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  modest  humility,  spirit  of  self-denial, 
and  gentle  meekness,  of  this  great  man.  But  it  must  not  be 
inferred  that  he  was  not,  at  the  same  time,  firm  in  maintaining 
his  opinions,  and  almost  severe  in  carrying  out  his  authority. 
No  one  ever  bowed  more  submissively  than  he  to  what  he 
recognized  as  superior  authority.  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  in  his 
eulogy,  in  Kichmond,  said  that  he  always  found  him  ready  to 
obey  to  the  letter  any  orders  emanating  from  his  office  or 
that  of  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War,  and  during  his  last 
illness  he  showed  this  spirit  by  taking  cheerfully  any  medicine 
given  him  by  his  attending  physicians,  although  he  would 
sometimes  refuse  it  when  offered  by  others.  But  when,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  was  placed  in  authority,  he  expected  and 
enforced  the  most  rigid  obedience  from  his  subordinates.  His 
staff  speak  of  him  as  being  stern  and  even  severe  upon  delin 
quents.  And  while  all  this  was  kept  very  quiet,  it  was  no 
uncommon  thing  for  his  higher  officers  to  receive  from  their 
loved  chief  the  most  severe  rebukes. 

When  he  first  took  charge  of  Washington  College  he  at 
once,  in  his  quiet  way,  gave  both  professors  and  students  to 
understand  that  he  wa,a  president,  and  meant  to  control  the 
affairs  of  the  institution.  He  at  once  introduced  sundry  re 
forms,  which  affected  both  professors  and  students;  and 
while  he  won  the  love  of  all  t>y  his  gentleness,  he  inspired  all 
with  a  mortal  dread  of  meeting  the  disapprobation  of  "  the 
general."  The  professors  would  make  any  effort,  and  submit 
to  any  sacrifice,  rather  than  incur  the  slightest  censure  from 
their  honored  president,  and  the  students  considered  it  a  great 
misfortune  to  be  summoned  to  go  to  General  Lee's  office. 
The  result  was,  that  no  college  in  the  land  had  a  harder-work 
ing  Faculty,  or  a  better-behaved,  more  orderly  set  of  students. 
If  he  employed  workmen,  while  he  was  always  kind  and  po 
lite,  he  gave  them  to  understand  distinctly  that  they  must 
follow  to  the  letter  his  directions. 

In  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  college,  General 
Lee  was  very  particular  about  smatt  matters,  and  required 


HIS  FIRMNESS   IN   CARRYING   OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.       285 

that  every  thing  belonging  to  it  should  be  properly  used,  taken 
care  of,  and  accounted  for.  His  keen  eye  was  sure  to  detect 
the  slightest  departure  from  this  inflexible  law.  If  an  old 
fence  was  removed,  he  required  that  the  timbers  should  be 
carefully  preserved ;  and  when  spades,  shovels,  or  axes,  were 
worn  out,  they  had  to  be  collected  and  disposed  of  to  the  best 
advantage. 

Upon  one  occasion  a  locust-tree  had  to  be  cut  down  to 
make  way  for  some  new  walks  that  were  b,eing  constructed 
through  the  college-grounds.  The  efficient  proctor  (Captain 

G )  directed  that  a  maul  which  was  needed  to  "  set "  the 

stone  on  the  walks  should  be  constructed  from  the  butt-end  of 
this  tree.  But  the  general,  who  had  a  great  fondness  for  lo 
cust  posts,  had  determined  to  have  some  gate-posts  made  from 
this  same  tree,  and,  when  he  found  out  what  had  been  done, 

he  said  to  Captain  G ,  with  some   sharpness   of   tone  : 

"  Well,  sir,  your  maul  will  be  an  expensive  one.  You  might 
have  ordered  one  from  New  York,  or  even  imported  \ifrom 
Liverpool,  at  less  cost." 

During  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty,  one  of  the  professors, 
having  occasion  to  refer  to  the  catalogue  of  the  college,  picked 
up  one  ready  wrapped  for  mailing,  and  was  about  to  tear  off 
the  wrapper,  when  the  general  stopped  him,  handed  him  an 
other  catalogue,  and  quietly  remarked  :  "  We  must  take  care 
of  these  small  matters.  Many  a  man  has  made  his  fortune  by 
so  doing." 

A  student  was  once  guilty  of  a  gross  breach  of  college  law, 
and  brought  General  Lee  a  long  letter  of  apology  from  his 
father. 

One  of  the  professors  went  into  the  general's  office  and 
found  him  greatly  annoyed  and  provoked.  Showing  him  the 
father's  letter,  he  said  :  "  Xow  it  is  evident  to  my  mind  that 
this  is  a  disingenuous  letter.  He  does  not  fairly  represent 
the  facts,  and  will  completely  ruin  his  son,  as  well  as  seriously 
interfere  with  our  discipline.  Now,  sir,  I  will  show  you 
what  I  have  written  him  in  reply."  The  general's  letter  was 


28G  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

a  polite  and  very  keen  rebuke  to  one  capable  of  appreciating 
it,  but  the  professor  happened  to  know  that  it  would  be  en 
tirely  lost  on  the  man  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Accord 
ingly  he  said,  pleasantly :  "  Why,  general,  he  will  not  appre 
ciate  that ;  he  will  take  it  as  rather  an  approval  of  his  course." 
The  old  hero  looked  very  much  perplexed,  but  presently 
replied :  "  Well,  sir,  I  cannot  help  it ;  if  a  gentleman  can't 
understand  the  language  of  a  gentleman,  he  must  remain  in 
ignorance,  for  a  gentleman  cannot  write  in  any  other  way." 

The  system  of  discipline  which  he  adopted  at  the  college 
abolished  the  old  custom  of  turning  the  Faculty  into  a  body 
of  spies,  to  go  at  unexpected  hours  into  students'  rooms,  and 
to  keep  a  constant  watch  for  opportunities  of  catching  them 
at  some  violation  of  college  rules.  He  used  to  say,  "  I  have 
but  one  rule — deport  yourselves  as  gentlemen ; "  and  he  acted 
upon  the  presumption  that  the  young  men  were  gentlemen, 
and  would  behave  as  such,  unless  they  should  prove  the  con 
trary  by  their  conduct.  But  if  he  found  that  a  young  man 
would  not  study,  or  would  not  deport  himself  properly,  he 
would  deal  with  him  very  promptly  and  decidedly. 

Many  incidents  are  related  illustrating  not  only  his  firm 
ness  in  carrying  out  his  purposes,  but  his  retentive  memory 
of,  and  prompt  attention  to,  small  things. 

The  Warrenton  (Virginia)  Index  gives  the  following : 

"  Early  in  the  fall  of  1860  he  rode  over  from  Arlington 
to  the  iron-foundery  of  Mr.  Schneider,  corner  of  Eighteenth 
Street  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  and  drew  from  his  pocket  the 
draft  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  coulter,  which  he  requested  to  be 
cast  for  him  to  use  in  breaking  up  a  lot  of  heavy  meadow 
sod.  The  price  of  the  coulter  was  fixed  at  two  dollars,  and 
the  general's  old  market-man  called  for  it  a  day  or  two  after 
ward. 

"  A  few  months  passed,  and  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  agri 
culture  were  exchanged  for  the  strife  and-  turmoil  of  war. 
General  Lee  pitched  his  tent  in  the  South,  and  the  quiet 
scenes  of  Arlington  knew  him  no  more. 


HIS  FIRMNESS  IN  CARRYING  OUT  HIS  PURPOSES.       287 

"  Late  in  1861,  amid  the  stirring  events  that  were  enact 
ing  around  him,  and  while  all  the  mighty  cares  and  responsi 
bilities  of  his  position  were  resting  upon  General  Lee,  Mr. 
Schneider  received,  by  the  hands  of  a  little  boy,  two  dollar 
gold-pieces,  with  a  brief  note  of  apology  for  overlooking  the 
little  account." 

When  General  Lee  came  to  Kichmond  to  tender  his  ser 
vices  to  his  native  State,  his  baggage,  which  had  just  reached 
New  York,  was  seized  on  and  "  confiscated."  Among  other 
articles  was  a  saddle  of  peculiar  make,  which  he  had  be 
come  accustomed  to  riding,  and  preferred  to  all  others.  He 
at  once  wrote  to  the  maker  in  St.  Louis  that  he  should  be 
glad  to  have  another  like  it,  if  he  was  willing  to  risk  the 
chances  of  getting  his  pay  in  those  uncertain  times.  The 
saddle  was  promptly  sent,  and  the  great  soldier  was  not 
too  much  occupied  to  remember  to  send  through  a  safe 
channel  the  full  amount  in  specie.  The  general  rode  this 
saddle  all  through  the  war,  and  indeed  up  to  the  day  of  his 
death. 

When  Mrs.  Lee  read  the  above  incidents  in  my  MS.,  she 
expressed  herself  as  particularly  gratified  that  they  had  been 
given,  saying  that  attention  to  "  small "  matters  was  preemi 
nently  characteristic  of  General  Lee ;  and  that  she  thought 
that  his  example  in  this  respect  might  be  most  profitably 
studied  by  the  young  people  of  the  present  day. 

While  General  Lee,  in  firmly  carrying  out  his  purposes, 
would  sometimes  have  occasion  to  rebuke  sternly  his  higher 
officers,  he  was  always  careful  not  to  do  it  in  the  presence  of 
others. 

Riding  with  General  Gordon  one  day  on  an  inspection 
tour,  he  remarked  that  certain  works  were  "very  badly 
located ; "  but,  perceiving  that  some  young  officers  were 
nearer  than  he  supposed,  and  had  probably  overheard  the 
remark,  he  immediately  added :  "  But  these  works  were 
located  by  skillful  engineers,  who  probably  know  their  busi 
ness  better  than  we  do." 


288  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

One  of  his  generals  once  tried,  in  a  confidential  inter 
view,  to  get  General  Lee  to  express  himself  in  reference  to 
a  certain  other  officer  about  whom  he  himself  spoke  very 
freely.  But  the  old  chief  merely  replied,  with  a  quiet  smile : 

"  Well,  sir,  if  that  is  your  opinion  of  General ,  I  can  only 

say  that  you  differ  very  widely  from  the  general  himself." 

We  have  said  that  General  Lee  was  both  firm  and  perse 
vering  in  carrying  out  his  purposes.  Two  incidents  of  his 
experience  in  Mexico,  related  by  the  general  himself  (though 
of  course  with  a  very  different  object  from  the  one  for  which 
we  use  them),  will  serve  to  illustrate  this  as  well  as  other 
points  in  his  character. 

Not  very  long  before  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  General 
Wool  was  in  doubt  as  to  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and 
found  it  very  difficult  to  get  reliable  information.     One  even 
ing  he   received  the   most   positive   assurances   that    Santa 
Anna,  with  an  immense  army,  had  crossed  the  mountain  and 
was  encamped  only  twenty  miles  off.     Captain  E.  E.  Lee 
happened  to  be  present,  and  at  once  volunteered  to  ascertain 
the  truth  of  the  report.     His  offer  was  gladly  accepted,  and 
he  was  directed  to  secure  a  guide,  take  a  company  of  cavalry 
which  would  meet  him  at  the  outer  picket-line,  and  proceed 
at  once  on  the  scout.     Seeming,  after  a  good  deal  of  diffi 
culty,  a  young  Mexican  who  knew  the  country,  Captain  Lee 
quietly  showed  him  his  pistols,  and  told  him  to  expect  their 
contents  if  he  played  false.     By  some  means  he  missed  the 
picket-post,  and  consequently  his  cavalry  escort,  and  found 
himself,  before  he  was  aware  of  it,  some  miles  beyond  the 
American  lines  with  no  company  but  his  guide.     To  go  back 
might  make  it  too  late  to  accomplish  the  scout  during  the 
night,  and  he  determined  to  dash  on.     When  within  five 
miles  of  the  point  at  which  the  enemy  were  reported,  he  dis 
covered  by  the  moonlight  that  the  road  was  filled  with  tracks 
of  mules  and  wagons,  and,  though  he  could  see  no  artillery 
tracks,  he  concluded  that  they  had  been  obliterated  by  the 
others,  and  that  these  were  certainly  the  traces  of  a  large 


HIS  FIRMNESS  IN  CARRYING   OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.        289 

force  that  had  been  sent  forward  to  forage,  or  to  reconnoitre, 
and  had  now  returned  to  the  main  army.  Most  officers 
(even  the  most  daring)  would  have  returned  upon  these  evi 
dences  of  the  truth  of  the  first  information  that  had  been 
received.  But  Captain  Lee  determined  to  go  on  until  he 
came  to  the  enemy's  picket-posts.  To  his  surprise,  he  did 
not  encounter  any  pickets,  and  had  concluded  that  he  had 
somehow  missed  them  as  he  had  his  own,  and  had  gotten  un 
awares  within  the  Mexican  lines,  when  this  opinion  was  con 
firmed  by  coming  in  sight  of  large  camp-fires  on  a  hill-side, 
not  far  in  front  of  him.  His  guide,  who  had  been  for  some 
time  very  much  alarmed,  now  begged  piteously  that  he 
would  go  back,  saying  that  there  was  a  stream  of  water  just 
at  that  point,  and  he  knew  that  it  was  Santa  Anna's  whole 
army,  and  that  to  go  on  would  be  certain  capture  and  death. 
But  Captain  Lee  determined  to  have  a  still  nearer  view,  and, 
allowing  the  guide  to  await  him  at  this  point,  he  galloped 
forward.  As  he  came  nearer,  he  saw  what  seemed  to  be  a 
large  number  of  white  tents  gleaming  in  the  moonlight ;  and, 
encountering  no  pickets,  he  rode  through  the  little  town,  and 
down  to  the  banks  of  the  stream,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
which  he  heard  loud  talking  and  the  usual  noise  incident  to  a 
large  camp.  Here  he  discovered  that  his  "white  tents" 
were  an  immense  flock  of  sheep ^  and  that  the  supposed  army 
was  simply  a  large  train  of  wagons  and  a  herd  of  cattle,  mules, 
etc.,  being  driven  to  market.  Conversing  with  the  teamsters 
and  drovers,  he  ascertained  that  Santa  Anna  had  not  crossed 
the  mountains ;  and  galloped  back  to  relieve  his  guide,  and 
still  more  his  friends  at  headquarters,  who  were  having  the 
most  serious  apprehensions  concerning  his  safety.  "  But," 
said  General  Lee,  "  the  most  delighted  man  to  see  me  was 
the  old  Mexican,  the  father  of  my  guide,  with  whom  I  had 
been  last  seen  by  any  of  our  people,  and  whom  General 
Wool  had  arrested  and  proposed  to  hang  if  I  was  not  forth 
coming."  Notwithstanding  he  had  ridden  forty  miles  that 
night,  he  only  rested  three  hours  before  taking  a  body  of 
19 


2<JO  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

cavalry  with  which  he  penetrated  far  beyond  the  point  to 
which  he  had  before  gone,  and  ascertained  definitely  the 
position,  force,  etc.,  of  the  enemy.  Soon  after  this  he  joined 
General  Scott,  and  entered  upon  that  brilliant  career  which 
illustrated  every  step  of  the  progress  of  the  American  army 
in  its  march  to  the  city  of  Mexico. 

At  the  siege  of  Yera  Cruz,  Captain  Lee  was  ordered  to 
throw  up  such  works  as  were  necessary  to  protect  a  battery 
which  was  to  be  manned  by  the  sailors  of  a  certain  man-of- 
war,  and  to  use  these  gallant  tars  in  constructing  the  work. 
The  time  being  short,  the  young  engineer  pushed  on  the 
work  very  rapidly,  and  the  sons  of  Neptune  began  to  com 
plain  loudly.  "  They  did  not  enlist  to  dig  dirt,  and  they 
did  not  like  to  be  put  under  a  '  land-lubber '  anyhow."  At 
last  the  captain  of  the  frigate,  a  thorough  specimen  of  a 
United  States  naval  officer  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  service, 
came  to  Captain  Lee  and  remonstrated,  and  then  protested 
against  the  ' outrage'  of  putting  his  men  to  digging  dirt. 
u  The  boys  don't  want  any  dirt  to  hide  behind,"  said  the 
brave  old  tar,  with  deep  earnestness  and  not  a  few  expletives ; 
"  they  only  want  to  get  at  the  enemy ;  and  after  you  have  fin 
ished  your  banks  we  will  not  stay  behind  them,  we  will  get 
up  on  top,  where  we  can  have  a  fair  fight."  Captain  Lee 
quietly  showed  his  orders,  assured  the  old  salt  that  he  meant 
to  carry  them  out,  and  pushed  on  the  work,  amid  curses  both 
loud  and  deep. 

Just  about  the  time  the  work  was  completed,  the  Mexi 
cans  opened  upon  that  point  a  heavy  fire,  and  these  gallant 
sons  of  the  sea  were  glad  enough  to  take  refuge  behind  their 
despised  "  bank  of  dirt,"  feeling  very  much  like  the  ragged 
Confederate  who  said  one  day,  as  the  bullets  flew  thick 
against  a  pit  which  he  had  dug  the  night  before,  "  I  don't 
begrudge  now  nary  cupful  of  dirt  I  put  on  this  bank !  " 
Xot  long  afterward  the  gallant  captain,  who,  by-the-way,  was 
something  of  a  character,  met  Captain  Lee,  and,  feeling  that 
some  apology  was  due  him,  said :  "  Well !  I  reckon  you  were 


IIIS  FIRMNESS  IN   CARRYING   OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.        291 

right.  I  suppose  the  dirt  did  save  some  of  my  boys  from  being 
killed  or  wounded.  But  I  knew  that  we  would  have  no  use 
for  dirt-banks  on  shipboard,  that  there  what  we  want  is  clear 
decks  and  an  open  sea.  And  the  fact  is,  captain,  I  don't  like 
this  land-fighting  anyway — it  airit  dean  !  '' 

The  general  related  these  incidents  with  evident  relish 
(he  was  fond  of  talking  of  events  that  occurred  prior  to  the 
late  war),  and  gave  many  details  of  interest  which  I  am  un 
able  to  recall. 

The  following  from  the  San  Antonio  Herald  is,  I  be 
lieve,  a  well-authenticated  incident,  save  that  Captain  Lee  was 
never  a  member  of  General  Scott's  staff  except  during  the 
Mexican  War : 

"  The  almost  uniform  success  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee 
was  due  probably  to  the  simplicity  of  the  means  he  invariably 
adopted  to  attain  even  the  most  gigantic  results.  As  an  evi 
dence  of  this  fact,  we  would  call  to  mind  something  that  our 
people  have  never  known,  and  the  people  of  St.  Louis,  those 
most  interested,  have  likely  forgotten.  Certain  it  is  that  by 
these  latter  no  official  recognition  of  General  (then  Brevet- 
Captain)  Lee's  services  was  ever  made — not  even  the  poor 
compliment  of  a  notice  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Alder 
men. 

"  It  will  be  remembered  that  many  years  ago  all  St.  Louis 
was  terrified  at  the  prospect  of  being  isolated  by  the  action 
of  the  river-current,  which  up  to  that  time  had  been  striking 
its  banks,  as  it  swayed  from  side  to  side,  almost  in  front  of 
the  city.  But,  by  washing  away  the  banks  on  the  Illinois 
side,  thereby  changing  the  angles  of  impingement,  the  stream 
commenced  to  gradually  wear  away  the  soil  below  St.  Louis, 
making  its  way  toward  the  American  bottoms,  an  alluvial  tract, 
and  would  have  finally  reached  and  emptied  into  a  creek  some 
five  miles  below  the  city,  diverting  the  river  and  leaving  St. 
Louis  an  inland  town. 

"  The  City  Council  and  the  General  Government  made 
large  appropriations,  hired  the  best  engineers,  built  dikes  to 


292  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   S.   LEE. 

find  them  useless,  and  were  finally  obliged  to  admit  that,  if 
there  was  engineering  skill  sufficient  to  avert  the  calamity,  it 
could  not  be  found.  General  Scott  was  consulted  to  know 
if  he  could  not  recommend  some  one  capable  of  grappling 
the  problem.  The  general  replied :  '  I  know  of  but  one  offi 
cer,  a  brevet-captain  on  my  staff.  He  is  young,  but,  if  the 
work  can  be  done,  he  can  do  it.' 

"  Brevet-Captain  Robert  E.  Lee  arrived  in  St.  Louis  and 
went  to  work.  Quietly  and  unostentatiously  he  prepared  his 
plans,  drew  his  charts,  calculated  the  force  and  direction  of 
the  currents,  examined  all  the  discarded  plans,  and  deter 
mined  on  his  course.  All  this  took  considerable  time,  be 
cause,  as  he  remarked, '  Too  much  is  at  stake  to  trust  to  any 
uncertain  agencies,  or  leave  any  thing  to  fortune.'  So  noise 
lessly  were  his  preparations  carried  on  that  the  citizens  began 
to  murmur  at  the  apparent  inactivity  of  the  young  officer ; 
the  Republican  and  other  newspapers  attacked  him,  and  at 
last  the  city  withdrew  its  appropriation. 

"  Through  all  this  accumulated  dissatisfaction  Captain 
Lee  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  merely  remarking, 
when  the  appropriation  was  withdrawn  by  the  city :  <  They 
have  a  right  to  do  as  they  will  with  their  own ;  I  do  not  own 
the  city.  The  Government  has  sent  me  here  as  an  officer  of 
the  army  to  do  a  certain  work.  I  shall  do  it.' 

"  The  careful  preparations  were  at  last  completed  and 
every  thing  in  readiness :  a  number  of  flat-boats,  some  par 
tially  laden  with  stones,  others  fully,  according  to  the  depth 
of  water  in  which  they  were  to  sink,  moored  with  strong 
ropes  from  each,  so  that  they  could  be  cast  loose  to  the  cur 
rent  at  one  time,  by  one  stroke  of  an  axe,  and  a  plug  in  each 
so  arranged  that  at  a  given  signal  all  the  plugs  could  be  with 
drawn  simultaneously.  A  man  stood  ready  at  each  line  with 
a  hatchet  to  cut  loose ;  a  watch  in  his  hand,  with  the  hour, 
minute,  and  second  indicated  when  to  pull  the  plug.  The 
signal  to  <  cut  loose '  was  the  firing  of  the  captain's  pistol, 
which  being  given,  as  with  one  accord  every  rope  was  cut, 


HIS   FIRMNESS   IX  CARRYING   OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.        293 

and  the  boats,  exactly  as  calculated,  swung  out  toward  their 
proper  and  destined  places.  Curving  at  first  by  the  greater 
force  of  the  current,  so  accurately  had  every  ounce  of  press 
ure  been  ascertained  and  provided  for,  that  wrhen  the  mo 
ment  arrived  and  every  plug  was  withdrawn,  the  boats  went 
down  in  a  perfect  line,  at  right  angles  to  the  current,  as  in 
tended.  Buoys  were  fixed,  and  next  day  Captain  Lee  paid  an 
early  visit  to  see  if  all  was  safe.  All  was  safe,  including  the 
city  of  St.  Louis.  Day  after  day,  brush,  stones,  etc.,  were 
sunk  until  the  dike  thus  formed  reached  the  surface  of  the 
water.  To-day  cars  cross  the  same  structure,  to  whose  exist 
ence  a  proud  city  owes  its  greatness,  a  silent  monument  to 
the  genius  of  one  who,  though  dead,  '  still  lives.' 

"  The  Republican,  we  believe,  managed  to  say,  after 
the  work  was  complete,  '  The  talented  young  engineer  has 
succeeded  in  diverting  the  current  of  the  river,  notwith 
standing  the  fears  entertained  that  such  would  not  be  the 
case.' 

"  This  is  but  one  notable  instance  of  '  Lee's  way,'  which 
was  ever  a  successful  one,  whether  grappling  with  a  scientific 
or  military  problem,  whether  planning  the  saving  or  reduc 
ing  of  a  city.  Whether  in  peace  or  in  war,  his  means  were 
as  simple,  direct,  speedy,  and  efficacious,  as  the  results  of  his 
efforts  were  successful,  enduring,  and  glorious." 

It  has  been  common  in  certain  quarters  to  represent  that 
General  Lee's  heart  was  not  fully  enlisted  in  the  Confederate 
cause ;  that  he  entered  upon  the  contest  very  reluctantly ; 
that  he  was  ready  to  abandon  it  long  before  he  did ;  and 
that  he  was  prevented  by  others  from  doing  so. 

The  truth  is  that,  having  once  drawn  his  sword,  he  "  threw 
away  the  scabbard,"  stood  firm  to  the  last,  and  only  yielded  to 
"  overwhelming  numbers  and  resources  ;  "  that  there  was  not 
in  the  whole  South  a  more  determined,  firmer  man  than  this 
modest  chieftain. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  General  Lee  favored  the 
famous  "  Hampton  Roads  Conference,"  and  was  anxious  tc 


REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

obtain  for  the  South  honorable  terms  of  peace ;  and  in  the 
same  spirit  he  wrote  as  follows  to  General  Grant : 

"HEADQUARTERS  CONFEDERATE  STATES  ARMIES,  March  2,  1865. 
"  Lieutenant-  General  U.  S.  GRANT,  commanding  United  States  Armies. 
"  GENERAL  :  Lieutenant-General  Longstreet  has  informed 
me  that  in  a  recent  conversation  between  himself  and  Major- 
General  Ord,  as  to  the  possibility  of  arriving  at  a  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  the  present  unhappy  difficulties,  by  means  of  a 
military  convention,  General  Ord  stated  that,  if  I  desired  to  have 
an  interview  with  you  on  the  subject,  you  would  not  decline, 
provided  I  had  authority  to  act.  Sincerely  desiring  to  leave 
nothing  untried  which  may  put  an  end  to  the  calamities  of  war, 
I  propose  to  meet  you  at  such  convenient  time  and  place  as  you 
may  designate,  with  the  hope  that  upon  an  interchange  of  views 
it  may  be  found  practicable  to  submit  the  subjects  of  contro 
versy  between  the  belligerents  to  a  convention  of  the  kind  men 
tioned.  In  such  an  event  I  am  authorized  to  do  whatever  the 
result  of  the  proposed  interview  may  render  necessary  or  advis 
able.  Should  you  accede  to  this  proposition,  I  would  suggest 
that,  if  agreeable  to  you,  we  meet  at  the  place  selected  by  Gen 
erals  Ord  and  Longstreet  for  the  interview,  at  11  A.  M.,  on  Mon 

day  next. 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "R  E.  LEE." 

But,  when  these  overtures  had  failed,  there  was  no  man 
more  determined  to  light  it  out  to  the  end  than  the  com- 
mander-in-chief .  He  said  to  a  Southern  Senator,  "  For  my 
self,  I  intend  to  die  sword  in  hand  rather  than  to  yield,"  and 
he  went  to  work  to  make  the  best  possible  disposition  of  his 
little  army.  Hon.  E.  L.  Montague  (ex-Lieutenant-Govemor 
of  Virginia)  gives  the  following  incident : 

"In  1862  Richmond  was  besieged.  The  Federal  gun 
boats  were  threatening  to  move  up  the  river,  and  the  army 
of  General  McClellan  was  camped  in  sight  of  the  capital. 
General  Lee  devised  the  plan  of  relieving  the  city.  I  had 


HIS  FIRMNESS  IN  CARRYING  OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.        295 

visited  the  general  at  his  room  at  night  on  business,  and  after 
it  had  transpired  was  about  to  leave,  when  he  desired  me  to 
remain.  His  adjutant  then  left,  and  the  general  detailed  to 
me  his  entire  plan  for  the  relief  of  the  city.  I  said :  '  General, 
if  it  fail,  what  then  ?  Will  you  abandon  Virginia  ? '  He  im 
mediately  rose  from  his  seat  (it  was  the  only  time  I  ever  saw 
him  the  least  excited),  and,  clinching  his  fist,  and  with  much 
animation,  exclaimed :  i  Never,  never !  I  will  fall  back  to 
the  mountains  of  Virginia,  and  if  my  soldiers  will  stand  by 
me  I  will  fight  these  people '  (he  always  spoke  of  the  enemy 
as  '  these  people ')  ( for  years  to  come ! ' ' 

Ex-President  Davis  says  that,  in  the  straits  to  which  they 
were  reduced  during  the  latter  part  of  the  siege  of  Peters 
burg,  General  Lee  said :  u  With  my  army  in  the  mountains 
of  Virginia,  I  could  carry  on  this  war  for  twenty  years 
longer."  He  had  decided  to  evacuate  Kichmond  and  Peters 
burg,  and  had  made  all  of  his  arrangements  to  do  so  about 
the  middle  of  February,  1865.  But  he  was  overruled,  the 
movement  was  stopped,  his  thin  line  was  finally  broken  by 
the  overwhelming  numbers  opposed  to  him,  and  he  was  thus 
compelled  in  the  face  of  a  victorious  enemy  of  four  times  his 
numbers  to  hastily  undertake  a  movement  which  he  desired 
to  make  secretly  and  at  his  leisure.  And  yet  he  was  calm, 
cheerful,  confident,  and  firm.  "  I  have  got  my  army  safe 
out  of  its  breastworks,"  he  said,  "  and,  in  order  to  follow  me, 
my  enemy  must  abandon  his  lines  and  can  derive  no  further 
benefit  from  his  railroads  and  James  River/'  It  was  his 
purpose  to  move  toward  Danville,  form  a  junction  with  Gen 
eral  Johnston,  and  strike  once  more  for  the  independence  of 
the  Confederacy.  But  the  freshet  rendered  the  streams  im 
passable  j  this  delay  enabled  General  Grant  to  throw  a  heavj 
force  between  him  and  Danville ;  and,  worse  still,  on  reach 
ing  Amelia  Court-House  he  found  a  cruel  disappointment 
awaiting  him,  in  the  fact  that  trains  of  cars  loaded  with  rations 
for  his  men,  which  he  had  ordered  to  that  point,  had  been 
sent  on  to  Richmond. 


296  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

As  there  have  been  so  many  erroneous  accounts  of  "  the 
last  days  of  Lee's  army  '  published,  and  as  the  writer  was  so 
fortunate  as  to  hear  General  Lee's  own  description,  as  he 
gave  it  to  a  party  of  friends,  it  will  be  briefly  given  here, 
both  as  illustrating  General  Lee's  firmness,  and  as  placing 
right  on  the  record  of  these  great  historic  events. 

I  will  not  sketch  the  events  of  the  "  running  fight  "  from 
Amelia  Springs  to  Appomattox.    Suffice  it  to  say  that  Grant 
had  been  enabled,  by  having  the  shorter  route,  by  the  delay 
of  General  Lee  on  account  of  the  swollen  condition  of  the 
streams,  and  by  the  necessary  halt  at  Amelia  Court-House,  to 
throw  his  immense  army  on  the  flank  and  rear  of  his  antago 
nist,  to  cut  off  our  line  of  retreat  to  Danville,  and  to  be  in 
position   to  continually  harass  our   jaded,  starving  troops. 
The  broken-down  mules  and  horses  were  unable  to  drag  the 
wagons  (even  lightly  loaded)  and  artillery  along  the  miry 
roads.     Sheridan's  splendidly  mounted  and  equipped  cavalry 
were  able  to  make  most  advantageous  forays  upon  the  trains, 
and  often  Lee  was  obliged  to  halt  for  hours  and  fight  eight 
or  ten  times  his  numbers  upon  most  disadvantageous  ground, 
until  the  jaded  teams  could  pull  the  trains  out  of  the  mud. 
In  all  of  these  contests  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  main 
tained  its  old  prestige  ;  the  men  fought  with  heroic  courage, 
and  won  some  most  brilliant  successes.     But  the  constant 
marching  and  fighting  without  rations  or  sleep  steadily  and 
surely  decimated  the  thin  ranks  of  this  noble  band.    Men  who 
had  been  true  to  their  colors  from  the  early  days  of  the  war, 
fell  out  of  the  ranks  and  were  captured,  simply  because  it 
was  beyond  their  power  of  physical  endurance  to  go  any  far 
ther  ;  many  who  had  been  hitherto  good  soldiers  straggled  : 
the  devoted  and  strong  found  great  difficulty  in  preserving 
organization  and  efficiency ;  and  as  the  retreat  rolled  ou  by 
the  light  of  burning  wagons  and  to  the  music  of  hoarse  artil 
lery,  mingling  with  the  rattle  of  small-arms,  the  corps  com 
manders  saw  that  the  days  of  that  grand  old  army  were  num 
bered. 


HIS   FIRMNESS   IN    CARRYING   OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.       29? 

Accordingly,  on  Thursday  night  (the  6th  of  April),  they 
held  a  conference,  at  which  they  commissioned  General  "W. 
X.  Pendleton  (chief  of  artillery)  to  inform  General  Lee  that 
in  their  judgment  the  time  had  come  when  negotiations 
should  be  opened  with  General  Grant. 

General  Pendleton  thus  describes  the  interview  :  "  Gen 
eral  Lee  was  lying  on  the  ground.  !N"o  other  heard  the  con 
versation  between  him  and  myself.  He  received  my  com 
munication  with  the  reply,  c  Oh,  no  !  I  trust  it  has  not  come 
to  that;5  and  added:  '  General,  we  have  yet  too  many  bold 
men  to  think  of  laying  down  our  arms.  The  enemy  do  not 
fight  with  spirit,  while  our  boys  still  do.  Besides,  if  I  were 
to  say  a  word  to  the  Federal  commander,  he  would  regard  it 
as  such  a  confession  of  weakness  as  to  make  it  the  occasion 
of  demanding  unconditional  surrender — a  proposal  to  which 
I  will  never  listen.  I  have  resolved  to  die  first ;  and  that,  if 
it  comes  to  that,  we  shall  force  through  or  all  fall  in  our 
places.  .  .  .  General,  this  is  no  new  question  with  me.  I 
have  never  believed  we  could,  against  the  gigantic  combina 
tion  for  our  subjugation,  make  good  in  the  long-run  our  in 
dependence  unless  foreign  powers  should,  directly  or  indi 
rectly,  assist  us.  This  I  was  sure  it  was  their  interest  to  do, 
and  I  hoped  they  would  so  regard  it.  But  such  considera 
tions  really  made  with  me  no  difference.  We  had,  I  was 
satisfied,  sacred  principles  to  maintain  and  rights  to  defend, 
for  which  we  were  in  duty  bound  to  do  our  best,  even  if  we 
perished  in  the  endeavor  I ' 

"  These  were,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recall  them,  the  exact 
words  of  General  Lee  on  that  most  critical  occasion.  You 
see  in  them  the  soul  of  the  man.  What  his  conscience  dic 
tated  and  his  judgment  decided,  there  his  heart  was." 

General  Lee  did  not  think  proper  to  comply  at  once  with 
the  suggestion  of  his  corps  commanders,  but  on  the  night  of 
the  next  day  (the  Yth)  he  received  from  General  Grant  the 
following  letter : 


298  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  April  nth. 
"  General  K.  E.  LEE,  Commander  G.  8.  A. 

"  SIR  :  The  result  of  the  last  week  must  convince  you  of  the 
utter  hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  in  this  struggle.  I  feel  that  it  is  so,  and 
regard  it  as  my  duty  to  shift  from  myself  the  responsibility  of 
any  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  asking  of  you  the  surrender  of 
that  portion  of  the  Confederate  States  Army  known  as  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  U.  S.  GRANT, 
"  Lieutenant- General,  commanding  Armies  of  the  United  States" 

To  this  General  Lee  replied  as  follows  : 

"  April  1th. 

"  GENERAL  :  I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date.  Though 
not  entirely  of  the  opinion  you  express  of  the  hopelessness  of 
further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
I  reciprocate  your  desire  to  avoid  useless  effusion  of  blood,  and 
therefore,  before  considering  your  proposition,  ask  the  terms  you 
will  offer  on  condition  of  its  surrender. 

"R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

"  To  Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  GRANT,  commanding 
Armies  of  the  United  States." 

General  Grant  sent  the  following  repty : 

"  April  8th. 
"  To  General  R.  E.  LEE,  commanding  Confederate  States  Army. 

"  GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  last  evening,  in  reply  to  mine  of 
same  date,  asking  the  condition  on  which  I  will  accept  the  sur 
render  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  is  just  received. 

"  In  reply,  I  would  say  that,  peace  being  my  first  desire, 
there  is  but  one  condition  that  I  insist  upon,  viz. : 

"  That  the  men  surrendered  shall  be  disqualified  for  taking 
up  arms  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States  until 
properly  exchanged.  I  will  meet  you,  or  designate  officers  to 
meet  any  officers  you  may  name  for  the  same  purpose,  at  any 
point  agreeable  to  you,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  definitely 


HIS  FIRMNESS  IN  CARRYING  OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.        299 

the  terms  upon  which  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  will  be  received. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"U.  S.  GKAOT, 
"  Lieutenant-  General,  commanding  Armies  of  the  United  States." 

In  the  mean  time  General  Lee  was  pressing  on  toward 
Lynchburg,  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  8th,  his  vanguard 
reached  Appomattox  Station,  where  rations  for  the  army  had 
been  ordered  to  be  sent  from  Lynchburg.  Four  loaded  trains 
were  in  sight,  and  the  famished  army  about  to  be  supplied, 
when  the  head  of  Sheridan's  column  dashed  upon  the  scene, 
captured  the  provisions,  and  drove  the  vanguard  back  to 
Appomattox  Court-House,  four  miles  off.  Sheridan's  im 
petuous  troopers  met  a  sudden  and  bloody  check  in  the  streets 
of  the  village,  the  colonel  commanding  the  advance  being 
killed.  That  morning  General  Lee  had  divided  the  remnant 
of  his  army  into  two  wings,  under  Gordon  and  Longstreet — 
Gordon  having  the  advance,  and  Longstreet  the  rear.  Upon 
the  repulse  of  the  cavalry,  Gordon's  corps  advanced  through 
the  village  and  spent  another  night  of  sleepless  vigilance  and 
anxiety,  while  Longstreet,  four  miles  in  the  rear,  had  to  in 
trench,  against  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  Meade.  That 
night  General  Lee  held  a  council  of  war  with  Longstreet, 
Gordon,  and  Fitz  Lee,  at  which  it  was  determined  that 
Gordon  should  advance  early  the  next  morning  to  "  feel "  the 
enemy  in  his  front ;  that,  if  there  was  nothing  but  cavalry, 
he  should  press  on,  followed  by  Long-street ;  but  that,  if  Grant's 
infantry  had  gotten  up  in  too  large  force  to  be  driven,  he 
should  halt  and  notify  General  Lee,  that  a  flag  of  truce  might 
be  raised,  and  the  useless  sacrifice  of  life  stopped. 

Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the  memorable  9th  of 
April,  Gordon  and  Fitz  Lee  attacked  Sheridan's  splendid 
cavalry,  outnumbering  them  more  than  four  to  one,  and 
flushed  with  the  full  confidence  of  victory  and  the  assurance 
that,  if  they  needed  support,  the  "  Army  of  the  James  "  was 


300  REMINISCENCES  OP  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

close  at  hand.  Yet,  despite  these  odds  and  the  exhaustion 
of  these  famishing  men,  they  went  into  that  fight  with  the 
heroic  courage  which  ever  characterized  that  old  corps,  and 
proved  themselves  not  unworthy  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  Ewell, 
Early,  Gordon,  Eodes,  Eamseur,  Pegram,  J.  A.  Walker,  C. 
A.  Evans,  and  other  noble  leaders  whom  they  had  been  wont 
to  follow  to  victory.  Utterly  unable  to  withstand  the  onset, 
Sheridan  hastened  in  person  to  hurry  up  the  Army  of  the 
James,  while  Gordon  drove  his  "  invincible  troopers  "  more 
than  a  mile,  and  captured  and  brought  off  two  pieces  of  artil 
lery  and  a  large  number  of  prisoners.  Had  only  Sheridan 
barred  the  way,  the  surrender  had  not  occurred  at  Appo- 
mattox  Court-House;  but  Gordon  only  drove  back  the  cav 
alry  to  find  himself  confronted  by  the  Army  of  the  James, 
and  the  road  blocked  by  ten  times  his  numbers. 

At  this  time  occurred  the  touching  incident  related  by 
Colonel  Yenable,  which  is  given  in  a  previous  chapter,  and 
this  morning  General  Grant  received  the  following  letter, 
written  the  day  before  : 

"  April  Stk. 

"GENERAL:  I  received,  at  a  late  hour,  your  note  of  to-day, 
in  answer  to  mine  of  yesterday.  I  did  not  intend  to  propose 
the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  but  to  ask  the 
terms  of  your  proposition.  To  be  frank,  I  do  not  think  the 
emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender.  But,  as  the 
restoration  of  peace  should  be  the  sole  object  of  all,  I  desire  to 
know  whether  your  proposals  would  tend  to  that  end. 

"  I  cannot,  therefore,  meet  you  with  a  view  to  the  surrender 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  but  so  far  as  your  proposition 
may  affect  the  Confederate  States  forces  under  my  command, 
and  lead  to  the  restoration  of  peace,  I  should  be  pleased  to  meet 
you  at  10  A.  M.  to-morrow,  on  the  old  stage-road  to  Richmond, 
between  the  picket-lines  of  the  two  armies. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE,  General,  Confederate  States  Armies. 
"To  Lieut.-General  GRANT,  commanding  Armies  of  the  United  States." 


HIS  FIRMNESS  IN   CARRYING   OUT   HIS   PURPOSES.        301 

The  following  reply  was  sent  and  received  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  9th : 

"April  9lh. 
"  General  R.  E.  LEE,  commanding  0.  S.  A. 

"  GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  As  I  have 
no  authority  to  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace,  the  meeting  pro 
posed  for  10  A.  M.  to-day  could  lead  to  no  good.  I  will  state, 
however,  general,  that  I  am  equally  anxious  for  peace  with  your 
self;  and  the  whole  North  entertain  the  same  feeling.  The 
terms  upon  which  peace  can  be  had  are  well  understood.  By 
the  South  laying  down  their  arms,  they  will  hasten  that  most 
desirable  event,  save  thousands  of  human  lives,  and  hundreds 
of  millions  of  property  not  yet  destroyed. 

"  Sincerely  hoping  that  all  our  difficulties  may  be  settled 
without  the  loss  of  another  life,  I  subscribe  myself, 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant- General  U.  8.  A" 

"  The  situation "  when  General  Lee  received  this  note 
was  simply  this  r  There  were  only  seven  thousand  eight  hun 
dred  and  ninety-two  jaded,  half-famished  Confederates  with 
arms  in  their  hands,  nearly  surrounded  by  eighty  thousand 
Federal  troops  already  in  position,  with  heavy  reinforcements 
hurrying  forward.  Gordon  fell  back  through  the  village,  and 
moved  to  meet  an  attack  of  Sheridan  on  the  flank ;  the  Fed 
eral  infantry  was  pressing  forward,  and  that  heroic  remnant 
of  our  grand  old  army  seemed  about  to  crown  their  illustri 
ous  deeds  with  a  glorious  death,  when  General  Lee  deter 
mined  to  "  take  all  of  the  responsibility  "  of  stopping,  if  he 
could,  the  further  effusion  of  blood.  Accordingly,  he  had 
a  white  flag  raised,  and  sent  General  Grant  the  following 
note : 

"April  9,  1865. 

"  GENERAL  :  I  received  your  note  this  morning,  on  the  picket- 
line,  whither  I  had  come  to  meet  you,  and  ascertain  definitely 
what  terms  were  embraced  in  your  proposition  of  yesterday 
with  reference  to  the  surrender  of  this  army. 


302  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

"  I  now  request  an  interview  in  accordance  with  the  offer 
contained  in  your  letter  of  yesterday  for  that  purpose. 
"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE,  General. 
"  To  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT,  commanding  United  States  Annies." 

General  Grant  at  once  returned  the  following  answer : 

"April  Wh. 
"  General  R.  E.  LEE,  commanding  G.  8.  Armies. 

"  Your  note  of  this  date  is  but  this  moment  (11.50  A.  M.)  re 
ceived. 

"  In  consequence  of  my  having  passed  from  the  Richmond 
and  Lynchburg  road  to  the  Farmville  and  Lynchburg  road,  I  am 
at  this  writing  about  four  miles  west  of  Walter's  Church,  and 
will  push  forward  to  the  front  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  you. 

"Notice  sent  to  me  on  this  road  where  you  wish  the  inter 
view  to  take  place,  will  meet  me. 

*  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-  General." 

That  gallant  soldier  and  unconquerable  patriot,  General 
J.  A.  Early,  says  that,  in  his  last  interview  with  General 
Lee,  lie  told  him,  when  speaking  of  the  surrender,  that  he 
had  that  morning  only  seven  thousand  nin#  hundred  men 
with  arms  in  their  hands,  but  that,  when  he  went  to  meet 
General  Grant,  he  left  orders  with  Gordon  and  Longstreet 
to  hold  themselves  in  readiness,  and  that  he  had  determined 
"  to  cut  his  way  out  at  all  hazards  if  such  terms  were  not 
granted  as  he  thought  his  army  was  entitled  to  demand." 

What  followed  is  best  given  by  General  Lee  himself  in 
the  conversation  with  the  company  of  frifhds  referred  to 
above : 

He  said  that  he  had  for  duty  that  morning  not  eight 
thousand  men,  and  that,  when  he  learned  from  Gordon  that 
there  was  a  heavy  infantry  force  in  his  front,  he  decided  to 
see  General  Grant  and  ascertain  the  terms  upon  which  he 
could  end  the  contest.  But,  before  going  to  meet  him,  he  left 


HIS  FIRMNESS  IN   CARRYING   OUT  HIS  PURPOSES.        3Q3 

orders  with  Longstreet  and  Gordon  to  hold  their  commands 
in  readiness,  determined  as  he  was  to  cut  his  way  through, 
or  perish  in  the  attempt,  if  such  terms  were  not  granted  as 
he  thought  his  army  entitled  to  demand.  He  met  General 
Grant  between  the  picket-lines,  in  the  open  field,  about  two 
hundred  yards  below  Appomattox  Court-House. 
y  "  You  met  under  an  apple-tree,  did  you  not,  general  ?  " 
asked  a  gentleman  present.  "  JSTo,  sir ! "  was  the  reply  ; 
"  we  did  not  meet  under  an  apple-tree,  and  I  saw  no  tree 
near.  It  was  in  an  open  field  not  far  from  the  main  road." 
(This  explodes  the  "  historic  apple-tree,"  about  which  so 
much  has  been  said.  A  gentleman,  who  was  within  a  few 
feet  of  the  two  generals  when  they  met,  pointed  out  to  the 
writer  the  exact  spot.  The  apple-tree,  which  was  cut  to 
pieces,  and  even  the  roots  of  which  were  dug  up  and  carried 
off  by  relic-hunters,  was  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
place  of  meeting,  and  the  only  historic  interest  that  could  be 
attached  to  it  was  that  General  Lee  rested  under  its  shade  a 
few  minutes  while  waiting  for  the  return  of  his  flag  of  truce. 
The  only  tree  anywhere  near  the  place  of  meeting  was  a 
small  locust-thorn,  which  is  still  standing,  about  twenty  yards 
from  the  spot.) 

General  Lee  said  that,  when  he  met  General  Grant,  they 
exchanged  polite  salutations,  and  he  stated  to  him  at  once 
that  he  desired  a  conference  in  reference  to  the  subject-mat 
ter  of  their  correspondence.  "  General  Grant  returned  you 
your  sword,  did  he  not,  general?  "  one  of  the  company 
asked.  The  old  hero,  straightening  himself  up,  replied,  in 
most  emphatic  tones :  "  No,  sir !  he  did  not.  He  had  no  op 
portunity  of  doing  so.  I  was  determined  that  the  side-arms 
of  officers  should  be  exempt  by  the  terms  of  surrender,  and 
of  course  I  did  not  offer  him  mine.  All  that  was  said  about 
swords  was  that  General  Grant  apologized  to  me  for  not 
wearing  his  own  sword,  saying  that  it  had  gone  off  in  his 
baggage,  and  he  had  been  unable  to  get  it  in  time."  (This 
spoils  a  great  deal  of  rhetoric  about  "  Grant's  magnanimity 


304  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.    LEE. 

in  returning  Lee's  sword,"  and  renders  as  absurd  as  it  is  false 
the  attempt  of  Northern  artists  to  put  the  scene  on  canvass  or 
into  statuary.  Even  General  Grant's  connivance  at  this  so- 
called  "historic  scene"  will  not  save  it  when  the  world 
knows  that  R.  E.  Lee  said  that  nothing  of  the  sort  occurred.) 
General  Lee  stated  in  this  conversation  that  he  was  accom 
panied,  when  he  met  Grant,  only  by  Colonel  Charles  Marshall, 
of  his  personal  staff,  who  went  with  one  of  General  Grant's 
staff  to  find  a  suitable  room  in  which  to  hold  the  conference ; 
that  they  were  first  shown  to  a  vacant  house,  and,  declining 
to  use  that,  were  conducted  by  Major  McClean  to  his  house  and 
shown  into  his  parlor.  General  Grant  was  accompanied  by 
several  of  his  staff-officers,  and  several  of  his  generals  (among 
them  Sheridan  and  Ord)  entered  the  room  and  participated  in 
the  slight  general  conversation  that  occurred.  The  two  gen 
erals  went  aside  and  sat  at  a  table  to  confer  together,  when 
General  Lee  opened  the  conversation  by  saying :  "  General, 
I  deem  it  due  to  proper  candor  and  frankness  to  say  at  the 
very  beginning  of  this  interview  that  I  am  not  willing  even 
to  discuss  any  terms  of  surrender  inconsistent  with  the  honor 
of  my  army,  which  I  am  determined  to  maintain  to  the  last." 
General  Grant  replied  :  "  I  have  no  idea  of  proposing  dis 
honorable  terms,  general,  but  I  would  be  glad  if  you  would 
state  what  you  consider  honorable  terms."  General  Lee 
then  briefly  stated  the  terms  upon  which  he  would  be  willing 
to  surrender.  Grant  expressed  himself  as  satisfied  with 
them,  and  Lee  requested  that  he  would  formally  reduce  the 
propositions  to  writing. 

With  a  common  lead-pencil,  General  Grant  then  wrote 
and  handed  General  Lee  the  following  paper  : 

"APPOMATTOX  COURT-HOUSE,  April  9,  1865. 
"  General  R.  E.  LEE,  commanding  Confederate  States  Army. 

"  In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letter  to  you  of 
the  8th  inst.,  I  propose  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  on  the  following  terms,  to  wit : 

"Rolls  of  all  the  officers  and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate, 


HIS  FIRMNESS   IN   CARRYING   OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.        305 

one  copy  to  be  given  to  an  officer  designated  by  me,  the  other 
to  be  retained  by  such  officers  as  you  may  designate. 

"  The  officers  to  give  their  individual  parole  not  to  take  arms 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States  until  properly  ex 
changed  ;  and  each  company  or  regimental  commander  to  sign  a 
like  parole  for  the  men  of  their  commands. 

"  The  arms,  artillery,  and  public  property,  to  be  parked,  and 
stacked,  and  turned  over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me  to  re 
ceive  them. 

"  This  will  not  embrace  the  side-arms  of  the  officers,  nor 
their  private  horses  or  baggage. 

"  This  done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return 
to  their  homes,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  United  States  authority 
so  long  as  they  observe  their  parole,  and  the  laws  in  force  where 
they  may  reside. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

" U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant- General" 

General  Lee  read  it  carefully  and  without  comment,  ex 
cept  to  say  that  most  of  the  horses  were  the  private  property 
of  the  men  riding  them.  General  Grant  replied  that  such 
horses  would  be  exempt  from  surrender,  and  the  paper  was 
then  handed  to  Colonel  Badeau  (Grant's  secretary),  and  copies 
in  ink  made  by  him  and  Colonel  Marshall.  While  this  was 
being  done,  there  were  inquiries  after  the  health  of  mutual 
acquaintances,  but  nothing  bearing  on  the  surrender,  except 
that  General  Lee  said  that  he  had  on  his  hands  some  two  or 
three  thousand  prisoners,  for  whom  he  had  no  rations.  Sheri 
dan  at  once  said,  "  I  have  rations  for  twenty-five  thousand 
men." 

General  Grant  having  signed  his  note,  General  Lee  con 
ferred  with  Colonel  Marshall,  who  wrote  this  brief  note  of 
acceptance  of  the  terms  of  surrender  offered,  General  Lee 
striking  out  the  sentence,  "  I  have  the  honor  to  reply  to  your 
communication,"  and  substituting  "  I  have  received  your  let 
ter  of  this  date." 

20 


306  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  April  9,  1865. 
"  GENERAL  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date,  contain 
ing  the  terms  of  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  as 
proposed  by  you.  As  they  are  substantially  the  same  as  those 
expressed  in  your  letter  of  the  8th  inst.,  they  are  accepted.  I 
will  proceed  to  designate  the  proper  officers  to  carry  the  stipula 
tions  into  effect. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

This  terminated  the  interview,  and  General  Lee  rode 
back  to  his  headquarters,  which  were  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
northeast  of  the  Court-House. 

The  above  is  the  substance,  and  for  the  most  part  the 
exact  language,  of  General  Lee's  own  account  of  the  sur 
render. 

A  great  deal  that  has  been  said  about  "  Grant's  magna 
nimity,"  and  "  Lee's  warm  thanks  for  the  liberal  terms  ac 
corded,"  originated  in  the  imagination  of  the  writers.  "We 
would  not  rob  General  G*ant  of  his  just  meed  of  praise  for 
the  kind  courtesy  with  which  he  received  General  Lee,  and 
the  delicate  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  the  vanquished 
with  which  he  conducted  the  details  of  the  surrender. 

But  he  knew  perfectly  well  that  he  proposed  the  only 
terms  which  General  Lee  would  have  accepted ;  and  he  was 
too  well  acquainted  with  the  mettle  of  that  great  captain, 
and  the  heroic  remnant  of  the  army  which  had  so  often  de 
feated  him,  not  to  rejoice  in  an  opportunity  of  covering;  him 
self  with  glory  by  accepting  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army  on 
almost  any  terms. 

The  appearance  of  General  Lee  upon  this  momentous 
occasion  was  thus  described  by  a  correspondent  of  a  Northern 
newspaper,  who  was  present : 

"  General  Lee  looked  very  much  jaded  and  worn,  but 
nevertheless  presented  the  same  magnificent  physique  for 
which  he  has  always  been  noted.  He  was  neatly  dressed  in 


HIS  FIRMNESS  IN   CARRYING   OUT   HIS   PURPOSES.        307 

gray  cloth,  without  embroidery  or  any  insignia  of  rank, 
except  three  stars  worn  on  the  turned  portion  of  his  coat- 
collar.  His  cheeks  were  very  much  bronzed  by  exposure, 
but  still  shone  ruddy  underneath  it  all.  He  is  growing  quite 
bald,  and  wears  one  of  the  side  locks  of  his  hair  thrown 
across  the  upper  portion  of  his  forehead,  which  is  as  white 
and  fair  as  a  woman's.  He  stands  fully  six  feet  one  inch  in 
height,  and  weighs  something  over  two  hundred  pounds, 
without  being  burdened  with  a  pound  of  superfluous  flesh. 
During  the  whole  interview  he  was  retired  and  dignified  to 
a  degree  bordering  on  taciturnity,  but  was  free  from  all  ex 
hibition  of  temper  or  mortification.  His  demeanor  was  that 
of  a  thoroughly  possessed  gentleman  who  had  a  very  dis 
agreeable  duty  to  perform,  but  was  determined  to  get 
through  it  as  well  and  as  soon  as  he  could." 

As  General  Lee  rode  back  from  this  interview,  his  sad 
countenance  told  the  story  to  all  who  met  him,  and,  when  he 
explained  it  to  his  officers,  they  one  by  one  took  him  by  the 
hand,  and,  with  deep  emotion,  expressed  their  approbation 
of  what  he  had  done. 

The  announcement  was  received  by  the  troops  generally 
with  mingled  emotions — satisfaction  that  "  Marse  Robert " 
had  done  right,  but  bitter  grief  that  it  had  at  last  come  to 
this. 

As  showing  the  spirit  of  the  men  who  participated  in  the 
brilliant  action  that  morning,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  many 
of  them  crowded  around  the  bearer  of  one  of  the  flags  of 
truce — a  widely-known  and  loved  chaplain,  who,  since  the 
capture  of  his  regiment  at  Spottsylvania  Court-House,  had 
served  with  great  gallantry  on  General  Gordon's  staff — and 
eagerly  asked  if  the  enemy  had  sent  in  to  surrender  their 
force  on  that  road,  thinking  that  in  fknking  us  Grant  had 
pushed  a  part  of  his  force  too  far.  They  had  no  dream  that 
they  were  to  be  surrendered.  But  gradually  the  truth  broke 
upon  them,  and  great  was  their  chagrin  when  these  high- 
mettled  victors  in  the  last  battle  of  the  Army  of  Northern 


308  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Virginia  learned  that  they  must  u  yield  to  overwhelming 
numbers  and  resources  " — that,  after  all  their  marches,  battles, 
victories,  hardships,  and  sufferings,  the  cause  they  loved  better 
than  life  itself  must  succumb  to  superior  force.  Man^ 
bosoms  heaved  with  emotion,  and 

"Something  on  the  soldier's  cheeks 
Washed  off  the  stain  of  powder." 

The  next  day  General  Lee  published  to  the  troops  the  fol 
lowing  order — the  last  which  ever  emanated  from  this  peer 
less  soldier — which  will  go  down  the  ages  as  a  touching  me 
mento  of  that  sad  day  at  Appomattox  Court-House  : 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  April  10,  1865. 

"  After  four  years  of  arduous  service,  marked  by  unsurpassed 
courage  and  fortitude,  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  has  been 
compelled  to  yield  to  overwhelming  numbers  and  resources.  I 
need  not  tell  the  survivors  of  so  many  hard-fought  battles,  who 
have  remained  steadfast  to  the  last,  that  I  have  consented  to  this 
result  from  no  distrust  of  them ;  but,  feeling  that  valor  and  devo 
tion  could  accomplish  nothing  that  could  compensate  for  the 
loss  that  would  have  attended  the  continuation  of  the  contest,  I 
have  determined  to  avoid  the  useless  sacrifice  of  those  whose 
past  services  have  endeared  them  to  their  countrymen.  By  the 
terms  of  the  agreement,  officers  and  men  can  return  to  their 
homes,  and  remain  there  until  exchanged. 

"You  will  take  with  you  the  satisfaction  that  proceeds  from 
the  consciousness  of  duty  faithfully  performed  /  and  I  earnestly 
pray  that  a  merciful  God  will  extend  to  you  his  blessing  and 
protection.  With  an  unceasing  admiration  of  your  constancy 
and  devotion  to  your  country,  and  a  grateful  remembrance  of 
your  kind  and  generous  consideration  of  myself,  I  bid  you  an 
affectionate  farewell. 

(Signed)  «R.  E.  LEE,  General." 

The  spirit  of  the  private  soldiers  may  be  illustrated  ty 
one  of  many  similar  incidents  which  occurred  when  the  Con 
federate  regiments  were  stacking  their  arms :  A  gallant  color 


HTS  FIRilNESS   IN   CARRYING  OUT   HIS   PURPOSES.        309 

bearer,  as  he  delivered  up  the  tattered  remnant  of  his  flag, 
burst  into  tears  and  said  to  the  Federal  soldiers  who  received 
it :  "  Boys,  this  is  not  the  first  time  that  you  have  seen  that 
flag.  I  have  borne  it  in  the  very  fore-front  of  the  battle  on 
many  a  victorious  field,  and  I  had  rather  die  than  surrender 
it  now."  "Brave  fellow,"  said  General  Chamberlain,  of 
Maine,  who  heard  the  remark,  "  I  admire  your  noble  spirit, 
and  only  regret  that  I  have  not  the  authority  to  bid  you  keep 
your  flag  and  carry  it  home  as  a  precious  heirloom." 

The  calm  dignity  of  General  Lee  amid  these  trying  scenes, 
the  deep  emotion  with  which  the  men  heard  his  noble  fare 
well  address,  and  crowded  around  to  shake  his  hand — how 
they  were  thrilled  by  his  simple  words,  "Men,  we  have 
fought  through  the  war  together  ;  I  have  done  my  best  for 
you;  my  heart  is  too  full  to  say  more"— Gordon's  noble 
farewell  speech — the  tender  parting  of  comrades  who  had 
been  bound  so  closely  together  by  common  hardships,  suffer 
ings,  dangers,  and  victories,  and  now  by  this  sad  blighting  of 
cherished  hopes — can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  wit 
nessed  that  scene  which  is  forever  daguerreotyped  upon  the 
memories  and  hearts  of  that  remnant  of  Lee's  splendid  army. 

And  it  is  proper  to  add  that  the  Federal  soldiers  deported 
themselves  with  a  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  the  van 
quished  worthy  of  all  praise. 

I  am  fortunate  in  being  able  to  add  to  this  account  of  the 
surrender  two  letters  from  General  Lee  to  President  Davis, 
which  have  never  been  published,  and  which,  while  of  course 
not  entering  so  much  into  detail,  fully  confirm  the  facts  given 
above : 

"PETERSBURG,  VA.,  3  P.  M.,  April  2,  1865. 
"His  Excellency  JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  Richmond,  Va. 

ME,  PRESIDENT:  Your  letter  of  the  1st  is  just  received.  I 
have  been  willing  to  detach  officers  to  recruit  negro  troops,  and 
sent  in  the  names  of  many  who  are  desirous  of  recruiting  com 
panies,  battalions,  or  regiments,  to  the  War  Department.  Af 
ter  receiving  the  general  orders  on  that  subject,  establishing 


310  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

recruiting  depots  in  the  several    States,  I  supposed    that  this 
mode  of  raising  the  troops  was  preferred.     I  will  continue  to 
submit  the  names  of  those  who  offer  for  the  service,  and  whom 
I  deem  competent,  to  the  War  Department ;  but,  among  the  nu 
merous  applications  which  are  presented,  it  is  difficult  for  me  to 
decide  who  are  suitable  for  the  duty.     I  am  glad  your  excellency 
has  made  an  appeal  to  the  Governors  of  the  States,  and  hope  it 
will  have  a  good  effect.     I  have  had  a  great  desire  to  confer  with 
you  upon  our  condition,  and  would  have  been  to  Richmond  be 
fore  this,  but,  anticipating  movements  of  the  enemy  which  have 
occurred,  I  felt  unwilling  to  be  absent.     I  have  considered  our 
position  very  critical,  but  have  hoped  that  the.  enemy  might  ex 
pose  himself  in  some  way  that  we  might  take  advantage  of  and 
cripple  him.     Knowing,  when  Sheridan  moved  on  our  right,  that 
our  cavalry  would  be  unable  to  resist  successfully  his  advance 
upon  our  communications,  I  detached  Pickett's  division  to  sup 
port  it.     At  first  Pickett  succeeded  in  driving  the  enemy,  who 
fought    stubbornly  ;  and,  after    being    reenforced  by  the  Fifth 
Corps  (U.  S.  A.),  obliged  Pickett  to  recede  to  the  Five  Forks 
on  the  Dinwiddie  Court-House  and  Ford's  Road,  where,  unfor 
tunately,  he  was  yesterday  defeated.     To  relieve  him,  I  had  to 
again  draw  out  three  brigades  under  General  Anderson,  which 
so  weakened  our  front  line  that  the  enemy  last  night  and  this 
morning  succeeded  in  penetrating  it  near  the  Cox  Road,  sep 
arating  our  troops  around  the  town  from  those  on  Hatcher's 
Run.     This  has  enabled  him  to  extend  to  the  Appomattox,  thus 
inclosing  and  obliging  us  to  contract  our  lines  to  the  city.     I 
have  directed  the  troops  from  the  lines  on  Hatcher's  Run,  thus 
severed  from  us,  to  fall  back  toward  Amelia  Court-House,  and  I 
do  not  see  how  I  can  possibly  help  withdrawing  from  the  city  to 
the  north  side  of  the  Appomattox  to  night.     There  is  no  bridge 
over  the  Appomattox  above  this  point  nearer  than  Goode's  and 
Bevil's,  over  which  the  troops  above  mentioned  could  cross  to 
the  north  side  and  be  made  available  to  us ;  otherwise  I  might 
hold   this  position  for  a  day  or  two  longer,  but  would  have  to 
evacuate  it  eventually,  and  I  think  it  better  for  us  to  abandon 
the  whole  line  on  James  River  to-night  if  practicable.     I  have 
sent  preparatory  orders  to  all  the  officers,  and  will  be  able  to  tell 


HIS  FIRMNESS  IN  CARRYING  OUT  HIS  PURPOSES.       3H 

by  night  whether  or  not  we  can  remain  here  another  day ;  but 
I  think  every  hour  now  adds  to  our  difficulties.  I  regret  to  be 
obliged  to  write  such  a  hurried  letter  to  your  excellency,  but  I 
am  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy,  endeavoring  to  resist  his  ad 
vance.  I  am  most  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE,  General" 

"  NEAR  APPOMATTOX  COURT-HOUSE,  YA.,  April  12,  1865. 
"  His  Excellency  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  :  It  is  with  pain  that  I  announce  to  your 
excellency  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 
The  operations  which  preceded  this  result  will  be  reported  in 
full.  I  will  therefore  only  now  state  that,  upon  arriving  at 
Amelia  Court-House  on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  with  the  ad 
vance  of  the  army,  on  the  retreat  from  the  lines  in  front  of  Rich 
mond  and  Petersburg,  and  not  finding  the  supplies  ordered  to 
be  placed  there,  nearly  twenty-four  hours  were  lost  in  endeavor 
ing  to  collect  in  the  country  subsistence  for  men  and  horses. 
This  delay  was  fatal,  and  could  not  be  retrieved.  The  troops, 
wearied  by  continued  fighting  and  marching  for  several  days 
and  nights,  obtained  neither  rest  nor  refreshment,  and  on  moving 
on  the  5th,  on  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad,  I  found  at 
Jetersville  the  enemy's  cavalry,  and  learned  the  approach  of  his 
infantry  and  the  general  advance  of  his  army  toward  Burke- 
ville.  This  deprived  us  of  the  use  of  the  railroad,  and  rendered 
it  impracticable  to  procure  from  Danville  the  supplies  ordered 
to  meet  us  at  points  of  our  march.  Nothing  could  be  obtained 
from  the  adjacent  country.  Our  route  to  the  Roanoke  was 
therefore  changed,  and  the  march  directed  upon  Farmville,  where 
supplies  were  ordered  from  Lynchburg.  The  change  of  route 
threw  the  troops  over  the  roads  pursued  by  the  artillery  and 
wagon-trains  west  of  the  railroad,  which  impeded  our  advance 
and  embarrassed  our  movements.  On  the  morning  of  the  6th 
General  Longstreet's  corps  reached  Rice's  Station  on  the  Lynch 
burg  Railroad.  It  was  followed  by  the  commands  of  Generals 
R.  H.  Anderson,  Ewell,  and  Gordon,  with  orders  to  close  upon 
it  as  fast  as  the  progress  of  the  trains  would  permit,  or  as  they 
could  be  directed,  on  roads  farther  west.  General  Anderson. 


312  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

commanding  Pickett's  and  B.  R.  Johnson's  divisions,  became  dis 
connected  with  Mahone's  division  forming  the  rear  of  Longstreet. 
The  enemy's  cavalry  penetrated  the  line  of  march  through  the 
interval  thus  left,  and  attacked  the  wagon-train  moving  toward 
Farmville.  This  caused  serious  delay  in  the  march  of  the  centre 
and  rear  of  the  column,  and  enabled  the  enemy  to  mass  upon  their 
flank.  After  successive  attacks,  Anderson's  and  Swell's  corps  were 
captured  or  driven  from  their  position.  The  latter  general,  with 
both  of  his  division  commanders,  Kershaw  and  Custis  Lee,  and 
his  brigadiers,  were  taken  prisoners.  Gordon,  who  all  the  morn 
ing,  aided  by  General  W.  F.  Lee's  cavalry,  had  checked  the  ad 
vance  of  the  enemy  on  the  road  from  Amelia  Springs,  and  pro 
tected  the  trains,  became  exposed  to  his  combined  assaults, 
which  he  bravely  resisted  and  twice  repulsed ;  but  the  cavalry 
having  been  withdrawn  to  another  part  of  the  line  of  march, 
and  the  enemy  massing  heavily  on  his  front  and  both  flanks,  re 
newed  the  attack  about  6  P.  M.,  and  drove  him  from  the  field  in 
much  confusion.  The  army  continued  its  march  during  the 
night,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  reorganize  the  divisions 
which  had  been  shattered  by  the  day's  operations ;  but,  the  men 
being  depressed  by  fatigue  and  hunger,  many  threw  away  their 
arms,  while  others  followed  the  wagon-trains  and  embarrassed 
their  progress.  On  the  morning  of  the  7th,  rations  were  issued  to 
the  troops  as  they  passed  Farmville,  but,  the  safety  of  the  trains 
requiring  their  removal  upon  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  all 
could  not  be  supplied.  The  army,  reduced  to  two  corps,  under 
Longstreet  and  Gordon,  moved  steadily  on  the  road  to  Appo- 
mattox  Court-House,  thence  its  march  was  ordered  by  Campbell 
Court-House,  through  Pittsylvania  toward  Danville.  The  roads 
were  wretched  and  the  progress  slow.  By  great  efforts  the  head 
of  the  column  reached  Appomattox  Court-House  on  the  evening 
of  the  8th,  and  the  troops  were  halted  for  rest.  The  march  was 
ordered  to  be  resumed  at  one  (1)  A.  M.  on  the  9th.  Fitz  Lee 
with  the  cavalry,  supported  by  Gordon,  was  ordered  to  drive 
the  enemy  from  his  front,  wheel  to  the  left  and  cover  the  pas 
sage  of  the  trains,  while  Longstreet,  who  from  Rice's  Station 
had  formed  the  rear-guard,  should  close  up  and  hold  the  posi 
tion.  Two  battalions  of  artillery  and  the  ammunition-wagons 


HIS  FIRMNESS   IN  CARRYING   OUT   HIS  PURPOSES.        313 

were  directed  to  accompany  the  army  ;  the  rest  of  the  artillery 
and  wagons  to  move  toward  Lynchburg.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  night  the  enemy  attacked  Walker's  artillery-train  near  Ap- 
pomattox  Station  on  the  Lynchburg  Railroad,  and  were  repelled. 
Shortly  afterward  their  cavalry  dashed  toward  the  Court-House, 
till  halted  by  our  line.  During  the  night  there  were  indications 
of  a  large  force  massing  on  our  left  and  front.  Fitz  Lee  was 
directed  to  ascertain  its  strength,  and  to  suspend  his  advance 
till  daylight  if  necessary.  About  five  (5)  A.  M.  on  the  9th,  with 
Gordon  on  his  left,  he  moved  forward  and  opened  the  way.  A 
heavy  force  of  the  enemy  was  discovered  opposite  Gordon's 
right,  which,  moving  in  the  direction  of  Appomattox  Court- 
House,  drove  back  the  left  of  the  cavalry  and  threatened  to  cut 
off  Gordon  from  Longstreet :  his  cavalry  at  the  same  time  threat 
ening  to  envelop  his  left  flank.  Gordon  withdrew  across  the 
Appomattox  River,  and  the  cavalry  advanced  on  the  Lynchburg 
road  and  became  separated  from  the  army.  Learning  the  con 
dition  of  affairs  on  the  lines  where  I  had  gone,  under  the  expec 
tation  of  meeting  General  Grant,  to  learn  definitely  the  terms 
he  proposed  in  a  communication  received  from  him  on  the  8th, 
in  the  event  of  the  surrender  of  the  army,  I  requested  a  sus 
pension  of  hostilities  until  these  terms  could  be  arranged.  In 
the  interview  which  occurred  with  General  Grant,  in  compliance 
with  my  request,  terms  having  been  agreed  on,  I  surrendered 
that  portion  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  which  was  on 
the  field,  with  its  arms,  artillery,  and  wagon-trains,  the  officers 
and  men  to  be  paroled,  retaining  their  side-arms  and  private  ef 
fects.  I  deemed  this  course  the  best  under  all  the  circumstances 
by  which  we  were  surrounded.  On  the  morning  of  the  9th, 
according  to  the  reports  of  the  ordnance-officers,  there  were 
seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-two  (7,892)  organized 
infantry  with  arms,  with  an  average  of  seventy-five  (75)  rounds 
of  ammunition  per  man.  The  artillery,  though  reduced  to  sixty- 
three  (63)  pieces,  with  ninety-three  (93)  rounds  of  ammunition, 
was  sufficient.  These  comprised  all  the  supplies  of  ordnance  that 
could  be  relied  on  in  the  State  of  Virginia.  I  have  no  accu 
rate  report  of  the  cavalry,  but  believe  it  did  not  exceed  twenty- 
one  hundred  (2,100)  effective  men.  The  enemy  was  more  than 


314  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

five  times  our  numbers.  If  we  could  have  forced  our  way  one 
day  longer,  it  would  have  been  at  a  great  sacrifice  of  life,  and  at 
its  end  I  did  not  see  how  a  surrender  could  have  been  avoided. 
We  had  no  subsistence  for  man  or  horse,  and  it  could  not  be 
gathered  in  the  country.  The  supplies  ordered  to  Pamplin's  Sta 
tion  from  Lynchburg  could  not  reach  us,  and  the  men,  deprived 
of  food  and  sleep  for  many  days,  were  worn  out  and  exhausted. 
"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE,  General." 

I  have  given  this  detailed  account  of  the  surrender,  not 
only  to  illustrate  the  character  of  General  Lee,  but  in  order 
to  place  on  record  (against  the  many  incorrect  versions  that 
have  been  published)  the  true  story  of  Appomattox  Court- 
House. 

General  Lee  illustrated  in  his  own  noble  bearing  the  re 
mark  he  made  to  one  of  his  officers  at  the  surrender — "  Hu 
man  virtue  should  be  equal  to  human  calamity  "  — -and  gave 
to  the  world  a  bright  example  of  firmness  under  trials  such 
as  have  rarely  come  upon  one  of  his  sensitive  nature.  He 
bore  himself  with  Homan  firmness,  until  his  very  heart-strings 
burst  asunder,  and  his  pure  spirit  went  to  its  rest. 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

HIS     LOVE    FOR    HIS    SOLDIERS,    AND    THEIR    ENTHUSIASTIC   DEVO 
TION   TO   HIM. 

GENERAL  LEE'S  affectionate  regard  for  those  under  his 
charge  and  his  tender  solicitude  for  their  welfare  were 
equaled  only  by  their  admiration  and  love  for  him.  Unlike 
some  military  chieftains  who  would  sacrifice  thousands  of 
men  withouf  scruple,  if  their  fame  demanded  it,  he  was  will 
ing  at  any  time  to  allow  his  own  reputation  to  suffer  in  order 
to  preserve  his  men.  His  soldiers  knew  that  he  would  not 
expose  them  when  he  could  avoid  it ;  that  it  was  through  no 
fault  of  his  if  their  rations  were  scant  and  their  hardships 
many  ;  and  that  he  regularly  robbed  his  own  poorly-supplied 
mess-table  of  luxuries  which  friends  would  send  him,  in 
order  that  they  might  go  to  his  ragged,  suffering  boys  in  the 
hospital. 

They  knew  that  their  great  chieftain  cared  for  their  wel 
fare,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  promote  it,  and  their  admira 
tion  for  his  splendid  genius  as  a  soldier  was  even  excelled  by 
their  love  for  him  as  a  man.  Time  and  again  have  I  seen 
these  brave  men — many  of  them  the  very  elite  of  Southern 
society,  who  had  been  raised  in  luxury,  and  never  knew 
what  want  was  before — ragged,  barefooted,  and  hungry,  and 
almost  ready  to  break  out  into  open  revolt  at  the  idea  that 
their  sufferings  were  due  to  the  inefficiency  of  the  quarter 
master  and  commissary  departments.  But  a  single  word 
from  General  Lee,  assuring  the  men  that  the  supply  depart- 


310  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

merit  was  doing  all  that  it  could  to  relieve  their  wants,  would 
act  like  a  charm,  and  the  magic  words,  "Marse  Robert  says 
so,"  would  hush  every  murmur  and  complaint. 

When  he  rode  among  his  troops  he  was  always  greet 
ed  with  enthusiastic  cheers,  or  other  manifestations  of  love 
and  admiration.  I  one  day  saw  a  ragged  private,  whom  he 
met  on  the  road  (while  riding  alone,  as  was  his  frequent  cus 
tom),  stand  with  uncovered  head,  as  if  in  the  presence  of 
royalty,  as  he  rode  by.  General  Lee  instantly  took  off  his  own 
hat,  and  treated  the  humble  man  with  all  possible  courtesy 
and  respect,  and,  as  he  rode  on,  the  soldier  enthusiastically 
said  :  "  God  bless  '  Marse  Robert ! '  I  wish  he  was  emperor 
of  this  country,  and  that  I  was  his  carriage-driver." 

Nothing  so  pleases  the  private  soldier  as  to  see  his  officers 
willing  to  share  his  dangers ;  and,  among  our  Confederate 
soldiers  especially,  the  officer  who  did  not  freely  go  himself 
wherever  he  ordered  his  men,  soon  lost  their  confidence  and 
respect.  But  General  Lee  was  an  exception  to  this  rule — 
the  soldiers  could  never  bear  to  see  him  exposed  to  personal 
danger,  and  always  earnestly  remonstrated  against  it. 

On  the  morning  of  May  6,  186tt,  in  the  Wilderness,  as 
Heth's  and  Wilcox's  divisions,  of  A.  P.  Hill's  corps,  were 
preparing  to  withdraw  from  the  line  of  their  gallant  fight  of 
the  day  before,  to  give  place  to  Longstreet's  corps,  which  was 
rapidly  approaching,  the  enemy  suddenly  made  upon  them  a 
furious  attack  with  overwhelming  numbers.  These  brave 
men  were  borne  back  by  the  advancing  wave ;  General  Lind 
say  Walker,  with  his  artillery  (superbly  served  under  the 
immediate  eye  of  Lee  and  Hill),  was  gallantly  beating  back 
the  enemy,  but  they  were  gathering  for  a  new  attack,  and  it 
was  a  crisis  in  the  battle  when  the  head  of  Longstreet's  corps 
dashed  upon  the  field.  General  Lee  rode  to  meet  them,  and 
found  the  old  Texas  Brigade,  led  by  the  gallant  Gregg,  in 
front.  The  men  had  not  seen  him  since  their  return  from 
Tennessee,  and  as  he  rode  up  and  said,  "  Ah !  these  are  my 
brave  Texans — /  knoio  you,  and  I  know  that  you  can  and 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF  LEE   AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  317 

will  keep  those  people  back  " — they  greeted  him  with  even 
more  than  their  accustomed  enthusiasm  as  they  hurried  to 
the  front.  But  they  were  soon  horrified  to  find  that  their 
beloved  chief  was  going  with  them  into  the  thickest  of  the 
fight.  The  men  began  to  shout :  "  Go  back,  General  Lee ! 
Do  go  back !  General  Lee  to  the  rear — General  Lee  to  the 
rear ! "  A  ragged  veteran  stepped  from  the  ranks  and  seized 
his  reins;  and  at  last  the  whole  brigade  halted,  and  ex 
claimed,  with  one  voice,  "  We  will  not  advance  unless  Gen 
eral  Lee  goes  back ;  but,  if  he  will  not  expose  himself,  we 
pledge  ourselves  to  drive  the  enemy  back."  Just  then  Gen 
eral  Lee  saw  Longstreet,  and  rode  off  to  give  him  some  order, 
and  these  gallant  Texans  rushed  eagerly  forward,  and  nobly 
redeemed  their  pledge.  The  rest  of  Longstreet's  corps  hur 
ried  to  the  front,  Hill's  troops  rallied,  the  enemy  was  driven 
in  confusion,  and  only  the  wounding  of  Longstreet  at  this 
unfortunate  juncture  prevented  the  utter  rout,  if  not  the 
crushing,  of  that  wing  of  Grant's  army. 

On  the  10th  of  May,  1864,  the  Confederate  lines  were 
broken  near  Spottsylvania  Court-House ;  the  Federal  troops 
poured  into  the  opening,  and  a  terrible  disaster  seemed  im 
minent.  As  Early's  old  division,  now  commanded  by  Gen 
eral  John  B.  Gordon,  was  being  rapidly  formed  to  recapture 
the  works,  General  Lee  rode  to  the  front  and  took  his  posi 
tion  just  in  advance  of  the  colors  of  the  Forty-ninth  Vir 
ginia  Regiment.  He  uttered  not  a  word — he  was  not  the 
man  for  theatrical  display — but  as  he  quietly  took  off  his  hat, 
and  sat  his  war-horse,  the  very  personification  of  the  genius 
of  battle,  it  was  evident  to  all  that  he  meant  to  lead  the  charge, 
and  a  murmur  of  disapprobation  ran  down  the  line.  Just 
then  the  gallant  Gordon  spurred  to  his  side,  seized  the  reins 
of  his  horse,  and  exclaimed,  with  deep  anxiety :  "  General 
Lee,  this  is  no  place  for  you !  Do  go  to  the  rear.  These 
are  Yirginians  and  Georgians,  sir — men  who  have  never 
failed — and  they  will  not  fail  now. — Will  you,  boys  ?  Is  it 
necessary  for  General  Lee  to  lead  this  charge  ? " 


318  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

Loud  cries  of  "  ~No  I  no !  General  Lee  to  the  rear ! — Gen 
eral  Lee  to  the  rear !  We  always  try  to  do  just  what  General 
Gordon  tells  us,  and  we  will  drive  them  back  if  General  Lee 
will  only  go  to  the  rear,"  burst  forth  from  the  ranks. 

While  two  soldiers  led  General  Lee's  horse  to  the  rear, 
Gordon  put  himself  in  front  of  his  division,  and  his  clear 
voice  rang  out  above  the  roar  of  the  battle,  "Forward! 
Charge !  and  remember  your  promise  to  General  Lee ! "  Not 
Napoleon's  magic  words  to  his  Old  Guard — "  The  eyes  of 
your  emperor  are  upon  you ! " — produced  a  happier  effect ; 
and  these  brave  fellows  swept  grandly  forward,  stemmed  the 
tide,  drove  back  five  times  their  own  numbers,  retook  the 
works,  reestablished  the  Confederate  line,  and  converted  a 
threatened  disaster  into  a  brilliant  victory. 

A  similar  scene  was  enacted  on  the  memorable  12th  of 
May  (when  Hancock  had  broken  the  Confederate  lines),  just 
in  front  of  the  "  bloody  angle,"  where  General  Lee  was  only 
prevented  from  leading  Harris's  Mississippi  Brigade  into  the 
thickest  of  that  terrible  fight  by  the  positive  refusal  of  the 
men  to  go  forward  unless  their  beloved  chieftain  would  go 
to  the  rear. 

These  three  incidents  are  all  well  authenticated.  But 
Miss  Emily  Mason,  in  her  biography,  gives  a  correspondence 
between  Hon.  John  Thomson  Mason  and  General  Lee,  in 
which  the  former  details  the  incident  as  it  occurred  with 
Gregg's  Texas  Brigade,  and  asks  the  general  about  it.  The 
reply  is  characteristic,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  7,  1865. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  regret  that  my  occupations  are  such  as  to 
prevent  me  from  writing  at  present  a  narrative  of  the  event 
which  you  request  in  your  letter  of  the  4th  inst. 

"The  account  you  give  is  substantially  correct.  General 
Gordon  was  the  officer.  It  occurred  in  the  battles  around  Spott- 
sylvania  Court-House. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  friend  and  servant, 

"R.E.  LEE. 
"  Hon.  JOHN  THOMSON  MASON." 


MUTUAL  LOVE  OF  LEE  AND  HIS  SOLDIERS.  310 

These  incidents  will  go  on  the  page  of  history  as  among 
the  grandest  battle-scenes  of  the  war ;  but  General  Lee  evi 
dently  considered  the  part  he  played  in  them  of  so  little 
importance  that  he  mingles  two  into  one,  and  does  not  even 
allude  to  the  third.  At  this  time  there  was  the  deepest 
anxiety  all  through  the  army  and  throughout  the  country 
lest  General  Lee  should  be  killed  in  battle,  and  President 
Davis  wrote  him  a  touching  letter  begging  that  he  would  not 
needlessly  expose  his  person. 

It  was  no  uncommon  sight  to  see  badly-wounded  men 
join  in  the  cheers  which  greeted  the  appearance  of  their 
loved  chieftain  among  his  troops. 

One  day  he  met  coming  to  the  rear  a  gallant  Georgian 
whose  right  arm  was  very  badly  shattered.  "  I  grieve  for 
you,  my  poor  fellow,"  said  the  tender-hearted  chief ;  "  can  I 
do  any  thing  for  you  ? "  "  Yes,  sir ! "  replied  the  brave  boy 
with  a  proud  smile;  "you  can  shake  hands  with  me,  gen 
eral,  if  you  will  consent  to  take  my  left  hand."  General  Lee 
cordially  grasped  the  hand  of  the  ragged  hero,  spoke  a  few 
kind  words  which  he  could  never  forget,  and  sent  him  on  his 
way  rejoicing  that  he  had  the  privilege  of  suffering  under 
such  a  leader. 

One  night  some  soldiers  were  overheard  discussing  the 
tenets  of  atheism  around  their  camp-fire,  when  a  rough, 
honest  fellow  cut  short  the  discussion  by  saying:  "Well, 
boys,  the  rest  of  us  may  have  developed  from  monkeys ;  but 
I  tell  you  none  less  than  a  God  could  have  made  such  a  man 
as 'Morse  Robert!'" 

We  have  already  described  the  scene  at  Appomattox 
Court-House,  and  the  affectionate  enthusiasm  with  which  he 
was  greeted  by  both  officers  and  private  soldiers.  His  fare 
well  address  was  read  amid  the  weeping  of  veterans  of  a 
hundred  fields  who  were  really  more  distressed  on  account 
of  their  loved  chief  than  on  their  own.  How  different  the 
feelings  of  the  troops  and  of  the  people  of  the  South  toward 
him  after  the  surrender,  from  those  of  the  army  and  people 


320  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

of  France  toward  Louis  Napoleon  after  Sedan,  or  Bazaine 
after  Metz !  When  General  Lee  reentered  Richmond — the 
scene  of  his  many  triumphs  and  the  reminder  of  his  sad 
disaster — an  immense  crowd  assembled  to  greet  him  with 
most  marked  expressions  of  admiration  and  love,  as  they 
escorted  him  to  his  home.  And,  from  that  day  until  his 
death,  he  received  nothing  but  tokens  of  enthusiastic  devo 
tion  from  the  soldiers  and  people  whom  he  had  led  to  a  final 
overthrow  of  all  their  fondly-cherished  hopes. 

Not  long  after  the  surrender,  the  general  was  waited 
upon  by  two  ragged  Confederate  soldiers  who  had  just  re 
turned  from  prison,  and  who  said  that  they  came  as  the  rep 
resentatives  of  "  sixty  other  fellows  around  the  corner,  who 
are  too  ragged  to  come  themselves,"  and  who  sent  them  to 
tender  their  loved  chieftain  a  home  in  the  mountains  of  Vir 
ginia.  "We. will  give  you,"  said  the  spokesman,  "a  comfort 
able  house  and  a  fine  farm.  We  boys  will  work  it  for  you, 
and  you  and  your  family  shall  never  suffer  want.  And  we 
hear,  general,  that  Underwood  is  going  to  have  you  indicted 
and  tried  for  '  treason  and  rebellion ; '  now,  if  you  will  just 
accept  our  proposition  we  know  a  mountain  hollow  to  which 
you  can  retreat,  and  we  will  rally  the  boys  there  in  force  suf 
ficient  to  defy  the  whole  Federal  army." 

It  was  with  difficulty  that  General  Lee  could  restrain  his 
tears  sufficiently  to  say  in  reply :  "  Why,  my  poor  fellows, 
I  could  not  think  of  accepting  your  generous  offer  and  being 
a  burden  to  you.  Besides,  you  would  not  have  your  general 
to  hide  in  the  mountains  and  become  what  his  enemies 
would  call  a  fugitive  from  justice.  No !  I  am  deeply  touched 
at  your  offer,  and  cannot  command  words  to  express  my  grat 
itude,  but  I  must,  of  course,  decline  it." 

The  noble  fellows  were  persistent,  insisting  that  it  would 
not  be  a  burden — that  they  had  more  land  than  they  wanted 
— and  that  they  would  all  consider  it  a  high  privilege  to  be 
permitted  to  work  for  their  loved  chief ;  and  it  was  only 
after  the  general  had  given  them  suits  of  his  own  clothing  in 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF  LEE  AND   HIS   SOLDIERS.  30] 

place  of  their  rags  that,  in  their  eagerness  to  show  their 
treasures  to  their  comrades,  he  succeeded  in  getting  rid  of 
their  importunities. 

The  offer  of  these  ragged  soldiers  was  but  the  outgushing 
of  the  feeling  of  the  whole  Southern  people.  Despite  their 
deep  poverty  they  would  have  hestowed  upon  Lee  houses, 
and  lands,  and  money,  that  would  have  made  him  a  mil 
lionaire  had  he  permitted  it.  But  he  preferred  to  set  the 
people  the  example  of  earning  his  bread  by  his  own  honest 
toil,  and  steadfastly  refused  to  accept  all  gratuities. 

Upon  another  occasion  he  received  the  following  letter 
from  one  of  his  old  soldiers,  which  deeply  touched  his  feelings : 

"  DEAR  GENERAL  :  We  have  been  fighting  hard  for  four 
years,  and  now  the  Yankees  have  got  us  in  Libby  Prison.  They 
are  treating  us  awful  bad.  The  boys  want  you  to  get  us  out  if 
you  can,  but,  if  you  can't,  just  ride  by  the  Libby,  and  let  us  see 
you  and  give  you  a  good  cheer.  We  will  all  feel  better  after  it." 

It  was  touching  to  witness  the  tender  interest  which 
General  Lee  manifested  in  the  welfare  of  his  old  soldiers. 
When  in  the  autumn  of  1865  I  met  him  for  the  first  time 
since  the  surrender,  I  took  occasion  to  mention  a  number 
of  facts,  showing  the  energy  with  which  our  returned  sol 
diers  had  gone  to  work  to  rebuild  their  ruined  fortunes,  and 
the  scrupulous  care  with  which  they  were  observing  the 
terms  of  their  parole,  and  deporting  themselves  in  a  quiet 
and  orderly  manner,  amid  the  strongest  provocation  to  an 
opposite  course.  He  expressed  himself  highly  gratified,  said 
that  this  was  in  accordance  with  his  own  observation  and  in 
formation,  and  added :  "  But  it  is  just  what  we  might  have 
expected  of  them ;  they  were  a  noble  body  of  men  who  com 
posed  that  army." 

I  remember  telling  him  the  following  incident,  which  I 

will  here  give  in  full,  as  it  deserves  to  be  put  on  record  for 

the  use  of  the  future  historian  :  I  was  traveling  one  day,  in 

the  summer  of   1865,  in  Eastern  Yirginia,  when  I  saw  a 

21 


322  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

young  man  ploughing  in  the  field,  guiding  the  plough  with 
one  hand  while  an  "  empty  sleeve"  hung  at  his  side.  I  know 
not  how  it  may  be  with  others,  hut  for  myself  I  never  see 
the  empty  sleeve  or  halting  gait  of  the  true  Confederate  sol 
dier,  that  I  do  not  feel  inclined  to  take  off  my  hat  in  pro 
found  respect  for  the  man.  I  never  pass  his  vocal  grave 
that  I  do  not  linger  to  cast  at  least  one  little  violet  upon  it. 
I  never  see  a  vacant  place  of  honor  or  emolument,  that  I  do 
not  instinctively  look  out  for  some  Confederate  soldier  com 
petent  to  fill  it ;  and  I  hope  never  to  see  the  day  when  I 
shall  be  unwilling  to  divide  with  his  widow  or  orphans  the 
last  crust  that  God  may  give  me !  Accordingly,  I  stopped 
and  determined  that  I  would  speak  with  this  young  man. 
As  he  drew  near,  I  recognized  him  as  one  whom  I  had  bap 
tized  in  the  army.  Our  greeting  was  most  cordial,  and  I  was 
deeply  touched  by  his  situation.  I  knew  his  history :  that 
he  had  been  raised  in  affluence,  that  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  found  him  at  college,  with  a  bright  prospect  of  bearing 
off  its  highest  honors,  and  winning  for  himself  a  high  posi 
tion  in  his  chosen  profession  ;  that  he  had  responded  to  the 
call  of  his  native  State  at  the  first  tap  of  the  drum,  had 
proved  as  gallant  a  soldier  as  ever  kept  step  to  the  music  of 
"  Dixie,"  and  had  returned  home  to  find  his  fortune  a  wreck, 
and  a  widowed  mother  and  several  helpless  orphans  depend 
ent  upon  him  for  daily  bread.  It  was  sad  to  see  him  thus, 
and  I  expressed  myself  in  terms  of  warm  sympathy.  With 
a  proud  smile  the  noble  fellow  replied  :  "  Oh !  it  is  all  right. 
I  thank  God  that  I  have  one  arm  left,  and  an  opportunity  to 
use  it  for  the  support  of  those  I  love."  And  he  went  forth 
cheerfully  to  his  work,  guiding  the  plough  with  one  hand, 
and  singing  in  a  clear,  ringing  voice  a  stanza  of  that  grand 
old  hymn,  which,  by-the-way,  was  a  great  favorite  with  Gen 
eral  Lee,  and  was  sung  during  his  burial  services  : 

"In  every  condition — in  sickness,  in  health, 
In  poverty's  vale,  or  abounding  in  wealth, 
At  home  and  abroad,  on  the  land,  on  the  sea, 
As  thy  days  may  demand,  shall  thy  strength  ever  lo" 


MUTUAL   LOYE   OF  LEE   AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  323 

As  I  told  tliis  incident  of  one  of  his  old  soldiers,  Genera] 
Lee's  face  flushed,  and  with  manifest  feeling  he  replied : 
"  What  a  noble  fellow  !  But  it  is  just  like  one  of  our  sol 
diers.  The  world  has  never  seen  nobler  men  than  those  who 
belonged  to  the  Army  of  Northern  'Virginia." 

He  was  deeply  interested  in  many  details  which  I  was 
able  to  give  him  of  particular  officers  and  men  whom  he  re 
membered,  and  manifested  the  liveliest  satisfaction  at  hear 
ing  of  their  welfare. 

But  when  I  told  him  of  the  general  revival  of  religion 
then  extending  through  the  State,  and  that  large  numbers 
of  .our  returned  soldiers  were  among  the  converts,  tears 
started  in  his  eyes,  as  he  replied  with  deep  emotion  :  "  I  am 
delighted  to  hear  that.  I  wish  that  all  of  them  would  become 
Christians,  for  it  is  about  all  that  is  left  the  poor  fellows  now." 

He  said  very  little  about  it,  but,  whenever  any  place  of 
honor  or  profit  was  to  be  filled  by  his  voice  or  influence,  he 
always  gave  the  preference  to  one  of  his  veterans,  and  would 
not  unfrequently  say  very  quietly,  "  He  was  a  good  soldier." 

When  I  was  starting  in  the  spring  of  1869  on  a  tour 
tlirough  several  of  the  Southern  States,  General  Lee  said  to 
me  :  "  You  will  meet  many  of  my  old  soldiers  during  your 
trip,  and  I  wish  you  to  tell  them  that  I  often  think  of  them, 
try  every  day  to  pray  for  them,  and  am  always  gratified  to 
hear  of  their  prosperity."  As  this  message  was  repeated  at 
different  points,  strong  men  wept  as  they  said,  "  God  bless 
the  old  chief ;  he  is  the  noblest  specimen  of  a  man  that  ever 
lived ! " 

One  day  at  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  while  in  the 
large  parlor  conversing  with  some  ladies,  and  surrounded  by 
the  brilliant  coterie  accustomed  to  assemble  at  that  abode  of 
fashion,  he  was  told  that  two  of  his  old  soldiers  desired  to 
see  him.  The  men  had  come  down  from  the  mountains  to 
bring  some  marketing,  and  were  dressed  in  coarse  homespun, 
but  were  so  eager  to  take  their  loved  chieftain  by  the  hand 
that  they  came  direct  into  the  parlor.  With  that  instinctive 


324  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

politeness  which  characterizes  Southern  society,  the  company 
made  way  for  them,  and  stood  silent  and  deeply-interested 
spectators,  while  General  Lee  received  these  humble  men 
with  as  genuine  courtesy  and  cordiality,  and  treated  them 
with  as  distinguished  consideration,  as  if  they  had  been  scions 
of  some  royal  house.  Indeed,  the  man  who  could  truly  say, 
"  I  was  a  soldier  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  and 
was  true  to  my  colors  to  the  last,"  had  in  the  eyes  of  this 
great  man  a  badge  of  honor  which  no  earthly  potentate 
could  ever  bestow. 

His  deep  interest  in  honoring  the  memory  of  the  Con 
federate  dead  was  evinced  upon  all  suitable  occasions.  The 
four  following  letters  are  specimens  of  many  others  he 
wrote: 

"LKXINGTON,  VA.,  June  23,  1866. 
"  Mr.  "WM.  H.  TRAVEBS,  Chwrlestown,  Jefferson  County,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  much  gratified  to  learn,  by  your  let 
ter  of  the  21st  inst.,  that  the  citizens  of  Jefferson  County  have 
collected  the  remains  of  the  Confederate  dead  in  their  vicinity, 
and  have  reinterred  them  in  the  cemetery  at  Charles  town.  It 
would  give  me  pleasure  to  accept  the  invitation  of  the  ladies, 
through  whose  instrumentality  this  good  work  has  been  chiefly 
accomplished,  to  be  present  at  the  services  to  be  performed  on 
the  27th  inst.,  but  I  am  compelled  to  be  here  at  that  time  to 
attend  the  commencement  at  Washington  College.  I  must  ask 
you,  therefore,  to  present  to  the  ladies,  of  whose  holy  office  the 
graves  which  contain  the  ashes  thus  sacredly  collected  will  be 
enduring  monuments,  the  apology  for  my  absence. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  «  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  August  — ,  1866. 
"  Miss  VIEGINIA.  S.  KNOX,  Fredericlcsburg,  Va.  : 

"  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  the  3d  inst. 
inclosing  an  appeal  of  the  Ladies'  Memorial  Association  of 
Fredericksburg  for  the  protection  of  the  graves  of  the  dead 
around  them.  It  is  one  which,  I  am  sure,  will  touch  every  hu- 


MUTUAL  LOVE   OF   LEE  AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  325 

mane  heart,  and  will  raise  up  willing  hands  to  perform  the 
sacred  labor  of  collecting,  in  one  hallowed  spot,  the  scattered 
remains  of  those  who  now  rest  far  away  from  their  homes  and 
families. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  that  success  may  attend  the  pious 
efforts  of  your  association, 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  yours  truly, 
(Signed)  "RE.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  5,  1866. 

"  Mrs.  WM.  COULLIXG,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Lectures,  etc.,  ) 
"  Care  of  Messrs.  Lancaster  &  Co.,  Richmond:  ( 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  the  ladies  of  the  *  Memorial  As 
sociation  for  Confederate  Dead '  for  their  invitation  to  attend 
the  inaugural  celebration  of  their  society  on  the  10th  inst.  It 
would  be  most  grateful  to  my  feelings  to  unite  in  the  celebra 
tion  of  a  society  formed  for  so  pious  an  object,  but  it  will  be 
impossible  for  me  to  do  so. 

"  The  graves  of  the  Confederate  dead  will  always  be  green 
in  my  memory,  and  their  deeds  be  hallowed  in  my  recollection. 
"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  December  15,  1866. 
"  My  dear  FITZ  : 

"  I  have  considered  the  subject  of  your  letter,  which  has  been 
unaccountably  delayed  on  the  journey,  and,  though  I  have  no 
desire  that  my  views  should  govern  in  the  decision  of  a  ques 
tion  in  which  others  are  equally  interested,  T  will  give  them  for 
your  consideration.  In  the  first  place,  I  have  no  fears  that  our 
dead  will  receive  disrespectful  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the 
Gettysburg  Association.  If  they  do,  it  will  then  be  time,  as  it 
will  also  furnish  the  occasion,  for  us  to  apply  for  their  transfer  to 
our  care.  I  am  not  in  favor  of  disturbing  the  ashes  of  the  dead, 
unless  for  a  worthy  object,  and  I  know  of  no  fitter  resting-place 
for  a  soldier  than  the  field  OH  which  he  has  nobly  laid  down  his 
life.  If  our  State  governments  could  reflect  the  wishes  of  their 
citizens,  and  each  State  could  receive  its  own  dead,  I  think  it 


326  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

would  'be  very  appropriate  to  return  them  to  their  native  soil  for 
final  interment,  if  possible,  and  I  know  it  would  be  soothing  to 
the  feelings  of  their  friends  to  have  their  sacred  dust  committed 
to  their  affectionate  keeping.  But,  so  far  as  I  know,  this  can 
not  be  done,  and  perhaps  the  attempt  might  prevent  the  very 
object  we  wished  to  accomplish.  In  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
I  presume  nothing  would  be  permitted  except  individual  action 
on  the  part  of  respective  friends,  and  I  do  not  know  how  far 
that  would  be  available.  After  the  action  of  the  Gettysburg 
Association,  I  think  it  could  be  better  determined  whether  any 
good  can  be  accomplished. 

"  You  must  give  my  best  love  to  your  father,  mother,  and 
brothers.  All  are  as  usual,  and  would  unite  in  my  regards  did 
they  know  I  was  writing.  Your  affectionate  uncle, 

(Signed)  «  R.  E.  LEE. 

"  General  Fm  LEE." 

As  the  army  passed  through  Farmville,  on  its  ^etreat 
from  Petersburg,  General  Lee  was  seen  to  ride  up  to  the 
home  of  the  widow  of  the  gallant  and  lamented  Colonel 
Thornton.  Dismounting,  and  entering  the  house,  he  said, 
with  deep  emotion,  "  I  have  not  time  to  tarry,  but  I  could 
not  pass  by  without  stopping  for  a  moment  to  pay  my  re 
spects  to  the  widow  of  my  honored  soldier,  Colonel  Thorn 
ton,  and  to  tender  her  rny  deep  sympathy  in  the  sore  bereave 
ment  which  she  sustained  when  the  country  was  deprived  of 
his  invaluable  services." 

It  was  this  tender  feeling  for  them  which  made  General 
Lee  the  idol  of  his  soldiers,  and  gave  him  a  place  in  their 
affections  which  made  them  seek  every  opportunity  of 
expressing  their  enthusiastic  love  and  admiration  for  him. 
His  visit  to  the  South,  in  quest  of  health,  in  the  spring  of 
1870,  was  one  continued  ovation,  notwithstanding  the  re 
straint  of  his  known  desire  to  avoid  popular  applause ;  and 
his  old  soldiers  would  come  for  miles  to  grasp  his  hand,  and 
gaze  once  more  on  his  noble  form  and  benevolent  counte 
nance. 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF  LEE   AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  327 

When  the  news  of  his  death  flashed  over  the  wires,  there 
was  mourning  in  every  home  in  the  South,  for  all  of  our  peo 
ple  felt  that  they  had  sustained  a  personal  loss.  But  his  old 
soldiers  wept  that  a  loved  and  loving  fatJier  had  passed  from 
their  midst. 

It  may  be  well  to  put  on  permanent  record  a  few  of  the 
expressions  of  our  veterans  as  they  met  to  honor  the  memory 
of  their  grand  old  chieftain. 

The  day  after  his  death  a  meeting  of  the  officers  and  sol 
diers  of  the  Confederate  Army  resident  in  Rockbridge  assem 
bled  in  Lexington.  Captain  A.  Graham,  Jr.,  was  made  chair 
man,  and  Rev.  J.  William  Jones  (a  former  chaplain  cf  the 
Army  of  Northern  Yirginia)  was  made  secretary.  Major  J. 
B.  Dorman  reported  a  series  of  resolutions,  which  were  unani 
mously  adopted,  as  follows : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That,  as  humble  members  of  the  great  army 
of  which  General  Robert  Edward  Lee  was  the  illustrious  head 
and  chief,  we  mourn  his  death.  With  feelings  untinged  by  bit 
ter  memories  of  a  stormy  past,  and  with  no  vain  thought  of  ex 
alting  his  name  in  the  opinion  of  mankind,  we  meet  to  do  him 
honor.  At  his  open  grave,  passion  must  stand  abashed,  and 
eulogy  is  dumb.  Striving  to  mount  up  to  that  clear  air,  wherein 
his  own  spirit  dwelt,  of  calm  wisdom  and  heroic  patience,  we 
seek  only  to  render  a  last,  simple,  but  just  tribute  to  his  mem 
ory.  At  different  times,  he  was  known  to  some  or  all  of  us  from^ 
the  day  that  he  received  the  sword  of  Virginia  at  the  hands  of 
her  sovereign  convention,  and  from  the  seven  days  around  Rich 
mond,  through  the  varying  fortunes  of  an  unequal  fight,  to  the 
closing  scenes  at  Appomattox.  He  has  been  known  to  us  again 
as  the  beloved  and  venerated  citizen  of  our  own  community,  and 
the  president  of  the  noble  institution  of  learning  to  which  George 
Washington  gave  an  endowment  and  a  name.  We  have  been 
daily  witness  to  his  quiet,  unostentatious,  Christian  life;  we 
have  seen  him  prove  that '  him  no  adversity  could  ever  move, 
nor  policy  at  any  time  entice  to  shrink  from  God  and  from  his 
•word.'  Knowing  him,  as  we  thus  did,  in  war  and  in  peace,  we 


328  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

pronounce  him  to  have  been,  in  all  the  elements  of  real  great 
ness  which  may  challenge  cavil  and  defy  the  touch  of  time,  the 
peer  of  the  most  renowned  of  any  age  or  country,  and  the  fore 
most  American  of  the  wondrous  century  in  which  he  lived. 

"He  is  gone  from  among  us— *  gone  before  the  Father;  far 
beyond  the  twilight  judgments  of  this  world ;  high  above  its 
mists  and  obscurities  ' — no  more  shall  we  look  upon  his  noble 
form,  meet  his  benignant  smile,  or  receive  his  kindly  greeting. 
But  here,  where  he  set  his  last  great  example  of  steadfast,  unself 
ish  devotion  to  duty,  the  memory  of  his  greatness  and  his  worth 
must  ever  linger ;  and,  while  we  reverently  bow  in  submission 
to  the  summons  of  Infinite  Wisdom  calling  him  away,  we  send 
up  a  solemn  aspiration  of  thankfulness  that  to  us  was  the  honor 
and  the  blessing  of  communion  with  him  in  his  last  days  on 
earth,  and  to  our  people  is  committed  the  pious  office  of  con 
signing  his  mortal  remains  to  the  tomb.  Hallowed,  through  all 
time,  shall  be  the  spot  whence  his  spirit  passed  from  earth  to 
heaven  ! 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  Mrs.  Lee  and  her  family 
the  expression  of  our  profound  sympathy  in  an  affliction  which 
we  feel  full  well  can  be  but  little  mitigated  by  poor  words  of 
human  consolation. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  the  usual  badges  of  mourning  be  worn 
for  six  months. 

"  4.  Resolved,  That  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  late  Con 
federate  States  resident  in  Rockbridge  unite  in  an  association 
•  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  monument  at  this  place ;  and  that 
the  chairman  appoint  a  committee  to  report  a  plan  of  organiza 
tion  to  an  adjourned  meeting  on  Saturday  next." 

In  Baltimore  there  was  an  immense  meeting  at  Masonic 
Temple,  presided  over  by  Major-General  I.  E.  Trimble,  who 
opened  the  exercises  with  an  appropriate  address  which  he 
began  as  follows : 

"  Fellow-Soldiers :  We  are  assembled  together  to  express 
our  sense  of  the  grievous  loss  which  we  have  sustained  in 
the  death  of  a  beloved  commander,  a  man  who  possessed  the 


MUTUAL  LOVE   OF  LEE  AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  329 

enviable  power  of  inspiring,  beyond  all  comparison,  more  of 
the  respect,  the  admiration,  and  the  love  of  mankind,  for  his 
virtues,  his  genius,  and  for  his  kindly,  generous  nature  than 
any  distinguished  character  who  has  ever  inscribed  his  name 
on  the  pages  of  all  the  histories.  We  have  deemed  it  our 
appropriate  privilege,  without  any  desire  for  display,  to  as 
semble  together  the  companions  in  arms  of  General  Lee.  We 
claim  to-night  to  feel  a  peculiar  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  a  be 
loved  commander  and  friend,  and  no  one,  we  hope,  would  de 
ny  us  the  mournful  consolation  of  shedding  a  soldier's  tear 
over  a  soldier's  grave.  We  accord  to  all  who  love  him  the 
same  sacred  privilege.  We  could  not  hinder  them  if  we 
would,  for  who  shall  forbid  the  hearts  of  a  world  from  loving 
and  mourning  for  General  Robert  E.  Lee  ?  Who  shall  re 
strain  the  eyes  that  weep  and  the  tears  which  fall  to  swell 
the  ocean  of  a  nation's  sorrow  ? " 

The  following  telegram  was  read  to  the  meeting : 

"  HAGERSTOWN,  MD.,  October  15,  1870. 

i%  To  Colonels  CHARLES  MARSHALL,  JAMES  R.  HERBERT,  ) 
and  others,  Masonic  Temple  ;  \ 

"Your  fellow-soldiers  here  are  stricken  with  sorrow  like 
yours,  and  unite  with  you  to-night  in  doing  reverence  to  the 
memory  of  their  great  commander.  The  wounds  we  felt  when 
Stonewall  fell  bleed  afresh,  and  Virginia  is  made  trebly  sacred 
by  the  graves  of  Washington,  Jackson,  and  Lee. 

"  HENRY  K.  DOUGLASS." 

Colonel  Charles  Marshall  then  made  the  eloquent  address 
from  which  the  quotation  in  a  previous  chapter  is  taken. 
He  began  by  saying : 

"  In  presenting  the  resolutions  of  the  committee,  I  cannot 
refrain  from  expressing  the  feelings  inspired  by  the  memo 
ries  that  crowd  upon  my  mind,  when  I  reflect  that  these  reso 
lutions  are  intended  to  express  what  General  Lee's  soldiers 
feel  toward  General  Lee. 


330  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  The  committee  are  fully  aware  of  their  inability  to  do 
justice  to  the  sentiments  that  inspire  your"  hearts.  How  can 
we  portray  in  words  the  gratitude,  the  pride,  the  veneration, 
the  grief  that  now  fill  the  hearts  of  those  who  shared  his  vic 
tories  and  his  reverses,  his  triumphs  and  his  defeats  ?  How 
can  we  tell  the  world  what  we  can  only  feel  ourselves  ?  How 
can  we  give  expression  to  the  crowding  memories  recalled  by 
the  sad  event  we  are  met  to  deplore  ?  " 

He  then  gave  the  incidents  we  have  already  quoted, 
spoke  of  the  confidence  of  the  soldiers  in  their  chief,  and 
concluded  as  follows : 

"  Need  I  speak  of  the  many  exhibitions  of  that  confidence  ? 
You  all  remember  them,  my  comrades.  Have  you  not  seen 
a  wavering  line  restored  by  the  magic  of  his  presence  ?  Have 
you  not  seen  the  few  forget  that  they  were  fighting  against 
the  many  because  he  was  among  the  few  ?  But  I  pass  from 
the  contemplation  of  his  greatness  in  war  to  look  to  his  ex 
ample  under  the  oppressive  circumstances  of  final  failure — to 
look  to  that  example  to  which  it  is  most  useful  for  us  now  to 
refer  for  our  guidance  and  instruction.  AYhen  the  attempt 
to  establish  the  Southern  Confederacy  had  failed,  and  the 
event  of  the  war  seemed  to  have  established  the  indivisibility 
of  the  Federal  Union,  General  Lee  gave  his  adhesion  to  the 
new  order  of  affairs. 

"  His  was  no  hollow  truce,  but,  with  that  pure  faith  and 
honor  that  marked  every  act  of  his  illustrious  career,  he 
immediately  devoted  himself  to  the  restoration  of  peace, 
harmony,  and  concord.  He  entered  zealously  into  the  subject 
of  education,  believing,  as  he  often  declared,  that  popular 
education  is  the  only  sure  foundation  of  free  government. 
He  gave  his  earnest  support  to  all  plans  of  internal  improve 
ments  designed  to  bind  more  firmly  together  the  social  and 
commercial  interests  of  the  country,  and  among  the  last  acts 
of  his  life  was  the  effort  to  secure  the  construction  of  a  line 
of  railway  communication  of  incalculable  importance  as  a  con 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF  LEE  AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  331 

necting  link  between  the  North  and  the  South.  He  devoted 
all  his  great  energies  to  the  advancement  of  the  welfare  of 
his  countrymen  while  shrinking  from  public  notice,  and 
sought  to  lav  deep  and  strong  the  foundations  of  the  new 
fabric  of  government  which  it  was  supposed  would  rise  from 
the  ruins  of  the  old.  But  I  need  not  repeat  to  you,  my  com 
rades,  the  history  of  his  life  since  the  war.  You  have 
watched  it  to  its  close,  and  you  know  how  faithfully  and 
truly  he  performed  every  duty  of  his  position. 

"  Let  us  take  to  heart  the  lesson  of  his  bright  example. 
Disregarding  all  that  malice  may  impute  to  us,  with  an  eye 
single  to  the  faithful  performance  of  our  duties  as  American 
citizens,  and  with  the  honest  and  sincere  resolution  to  sup 
port  with  heart  and  hand  the  honor,  the  safety,  and  the  true 
liberties  of  our  country,  let  us  invoke  our  fellow-citizens  to 
forget  the  animosities  of  the  past  by  the  side  of  this  honored 
grave,  and  c  joining  hands  around  this  royal  corpse,  friends 
now,  enemies  no  more,'  proclaim  perpetual  truce  to  battle." 

Colonel  Marshall  then  reported  the  following  resolutions, 
which  were  enthusiastically  adopted : 

"  The  officers,  soldiers,  and  sailors  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy,  residing  in  Maryland,  who  served  under  General 
Robert  E.  Lee,  desiring  to  record  their  grief  for  his  death, 
their  admiration  for  his  exalted  virtues,  and  their  affectionate 
veneration  for  his  illustrious  memory  : 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  leaving  with  pride  the  name  and  fame 
of  our  illustrious  commander  to  the  judgment  of  history,  we, 
who  followed  him  through  the  trials,  dangers,  and  hardships 
of  a  sanguinary  and  protracted  war,  who  have  felt  the  in 
spiration  of  his  genius  and  valor  in  the  time  of  trial,  who  have 
witnessed  his  magnanimity  and  moderation  in  the  hour  of  vic 
tory,  and  his  firmness  and  fortitude  in  defeat,  claim  the 
privilege  of  laying  the  tribute  of  our  heart-felt  sorrow  upon 
his  honored  grave. 

"  2.  That  the  confidence  and  admiration  which  his  emi 
nent  achievements  deserved  and  received  were  strengthened 


332  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

by  the  noble  example  of  his  constancy  in  adversity,  and 
that  we  honored  and  revered  him  in  his  retirement,  as  we 
trusted  and  followed  him  on  the  field  of  battle. 

"  3.  That,  as  a  token  of  our  respect  and  sorrow,  we  will 
wear  the  customary  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

"  1.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  and  of  the  proceed 
ings  of  this  meeting  be  transmitted  to  the  family  of  our 
lamented  chief." 

Kev.  Thomas  U.  Dudley  then  made  an  eloquent  address, 
from  a  report  of  which  the  following  extract  is  taken  : 

"  Mr.  Dudley  said  he  counted  himself  happy  that,  though 
almost  a  stranger  in  this  home  of  his  adoption,  he  was  permit 
ted  to  speak  as  a  Confederate  soldier  to  Confederate  soldiers 
gathered  about  the  effigy  of  their  leader  who  is  gone,  because 
he  knew  that  their  hearts  beat  as  his  heart.  He  counted 
himself  happy  that,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  committee  of  ar 
rangements,  he  was  permitted  to  bring  his  little  flower  to 
add  to  the  royal  wreath  of  immortelles  they  were  gathered 
to  place  on  the  grave  of  their  father-chieftain  who  was  gone. 

"  Yes,  they  have  buried  him  to-day,  brother  soldiers,  in 
his  mountain-home,  beneath  the  church  he  had  builded.  Per 
haps  some  day  a  nation  shall  demand  that  his  dust  shall  be 
buried  near  her  capital.  Perhaps  some  day  the  Richmond  he 
defended  will  guard  the  precious  remains.  Let  him  be 
buried  there — not  on  the  hill  with  the  Presidents,  but 
bury  him  where  the  boys  lie,  that  when  the  grand  reveille 
sounds  they  may  behold  their  chieftain  in  their  midst.  For 
that  grand  reveille  will  sound,  and  it  is  of  this  that  he  would 
speak.  He  came  not  to  speak  of  him  as  patriot — for  they 
had  been  told  by  one  who  knew  and  loved  him  long,  who  sat 
at  his  feet  as  his  pupil,  the  capacity  of  his  great  heart  to  take 
in  its  embrace  all  the  land  he  served.  He  would  not  speak 
of  him  as  soldier,  for  they  had  been  just  told  of  the  glory 
which  he  had  put  upon  that  flag  which  poor,  puny  malice 
would  not  suffer  to  be  lowered  at  half-mast  in  honor  of  him 
dead.  He  would  not  speak  of  him  as  soldier  to  men  who 


MUTUAL  LOVE   OF  LEE  AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  333 

had  seen  under  his  prescient  guidance  a  handful  chase  a  thou 
sand  ;  who  had  seen  the  marvelous  circle  of  retreat,  ever 
keeping  the  shield  of  his  army  between  the  foe  and  the  city 
he  defended.  He  came  to  speak  of  him,  not  as  patriot,  but 
as  Christian  patriot ;  not  as  soldier,  but  as  Christian  soldier. 
They  were  building  to-night,  in  their  breasts,  a  monument  to 
the  dead  hero ;  patriot  and  soldier  are  graven  there.  He 
came  to  write  Christian  above  them." 

Mr.  Dudley  then  gave  a  delineation  of  his  Christian  char 
acter,  and  concluded  as  follows : 

"  There  is  left  to  us,  brother  soldiers,  other  than  the  mourn 
ful  privilege  to  tell  over  to  our  hearts,  and  to  our  children, 
the  battles,  sieges,  fortunes,  he  had  passed.  There  is  left  to  us 
the  grand  example  of  God's  faithful  servant,  that  we  may 
follow.  He,  being  dead,  yet  speaketh,  bidding  you,  his  sol 
diers,  to  enlist  under  this  Christian  banner.  This  is  his 
command.  You  did  never  fail  to  follow  where  he  led ;  you 
did  never  flinch  or  falter  to  do  his  bidding.  This  is  the  com 
mand  he  speaks :  Enlist  and  battle  for  God  and  Christ,  so  that, 
when  our  end  shall  come,  we,  too,  like  him,  may  ever  wrap 
the  drapery  of  our  couch  about  us,  and  lay  us  down,  not  to 
dreams,  but  to  the  eternal  realities  which  eye  hath  not  seen 
nor  ear  heard,  nor  hath  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  but 
which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him — that  we, 
too,  may  hear,  as  we  trust  he  has  heard,  the  greeting : 

"  Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done ! 

Rest  from  thj  loved  employ  ; 
Thy  battle's  o'er,  thy  victory  won — 
Enter  thy  Master's  joy  I  " 

Similar  meetings  were  held,  and  similar  expressions  of 
grief  given,  by  the  soldiers  at  Louisville,  St.  Louis,  Memphis, 
New  Orleans,  Galveston,  Mobile,  Savannah,  Atlanta,  Charles 
ton,  Raleigh,  and,  indeed,  in  wellnigh  every  city,  town,  and 
village  of  the  South ;  but  we  have  space  for  only  a  brief  no 
tice  of  the  great  soldiers'  meeting  in  Richmond,  which  as 
sembled  in  response  to  the  following  call  from  General  Early : 


334     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  LYNCHBURG,  VA.,  October  24,  1870. 

"  To  the  Surviving  Officers  and  Soldiers  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia. 

"  COMRADES  :  The  sad  tidings  of  the  death  of  our  great  com 
mander  came  at  a  time   when,  by  the  interruption  of  all  the 
ordinary  modes  of  traveling,  very  many  of  us  were  debarred  the 
privilege  of  participating  in  the  funeral  ceremonies  attending 
the  burial  of  him  we  loved  so  well,  or,  by  concerted  action,  of 
giving  expression  to  our  feelings  on  the  occasion.     While  the 
unburied  remains   of  the  illustrious  hero  were  yet  under  the 
affectionate  care  of  friends  who  were  bowed  down  with  a  sorrow 
unutterable,  the  hoarse  cry  of  *  treason '  was  croaked  from  cer 
tain  quarters,  for  the  vile  but  abortive  purpose  of  casting  a  stig 
ma  upon  his  pure  and  exalted  character.     His  fame  belongs  to 
the  world  and  to  history,  and  is  beyond  the  reach  of  malignity ; 
but   a  sacred  duty  devolves  upon  those  whom,  in  defense  of  a 
cause  he  believed  to  be  just,  and  to  which  he  remained  true  to 
the  latest  moment  of  his  life,  he  led  so  often  to  battle,  and  for 
whom  he  ever  cherished  the  most  affectionate  regard— we  owe 
it  to  our  fallen  comrades,  to  ourselves,  and  to  posterity,  by  some 
suitable  and  lasting  memorial,  to  manifest  to  the  world,  for  all 
time  to  come,  that  we  were  not  unworthy  to  be  led  by  our  im 
mortal  chief,  and  that  we  are  not  now  ashamed  of  the  principles 
for  which  Lee  fought  and  Jackson  died. 

"  Already  steps  have  been  taken  by  some  Confederate  officers 
and  soldiers,  assembled  at  Lexington,  the  place  of  General 
Lee's  death  and  burial,  to  inaugurate  a  memorial  association ; 
and  being,  as  I  believe,  the  senior  in  rank  of  all  officers  of  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  now  living  in  the  State,  I  respect 
fully  suggest  and  invite  a  conference  at  Richmond,  on  Thurs 
day,  the  3d  day  of  November  next,  of  all  the  survivors  of  that 
army,  whether  officers  or  privates,  and  in  whatever  State  they 
may  live,  who  can  conveniently  attend,  for  the  purpose  of  pro 
curing  concert  of  action  in  regard  to  the  proceeding  contem 
plated.  I  would  also  invite  to  that  conference  the  surviving 
officers  and  soldiers  of  all  the  other  Confederate  armies,  as  wefl 
as  the  officers,  sailors,  and  marines  of  the  Confederate  navy. 
"  This  call  would  have  been  made  sooner,  but  for  my  absence, 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF   LEE   AND  HIS  SOLDIERS. 


335 


up  to  this  time,  in  a  county  where  there  are  no  railroads  or  tele 
graphs,  and  where  I  was  detained  by  imperative  duties. 
<c  Your  friend  and  late  fellow-soldier, 

"J.  A.  EARLY." 


In  response  to  this  call,  there  was  an  immense  gathering 
of  Lee's  veterans  in  a  meeting  which,  for  deep  feeling  and 
warm  enthusiasm  for  its  object,  has  been  rarely  equaled. 
As  indicating  the  representative  character  of  the  meeting,  we 
give  the  following  names  of  gentlemen  who  served  on  com 
mittees  : 

On  Permanent  Organization. 


General  WILLIAM  TERRY, 
Major  ROBERT  STILES, 
S'g't  J.  VANL/EW  MCCREERY, 
Corp'l  WILLIAM  C.  KEAN,  JR., 
Lieutenant  JOHN  E.  ROLLER. 
Lieutenant  HENRY  C.  CARTER, 
General  GEORGE  E.  PICKETT, 
General  JOHN  R.  COOKE, 
General  HARRY  HETH, 
Colonel  THOMAS  H.  CARTER, 
Colonel  H.  P.  JONES, 
Private  W.  H.  EFFINGER, 
Capt.  JAMES  WILLIAM  FOSTER, 
Colonel  THOMAS  L.  PRESTON, 
General  WILLIAM  H.  PAYNE, 
Colonel  ROBERT  S.  PRESTON, 
Captain  W.  C.  NICHOLAS, 
Colonel  WILLIAM  ALLAN, 
Private  ABRAM  WARWICK, 
Major  A.  R.  VENABLE, 
Lieutenant  SAMUEL  WILSON, 
Major  Ro.  W.  HUNTER, 
Lieutenant  JAMES  POLLARD, 
Colonel  WILLIAM  NELSON, 
Captain  R.  D.  MINOR, 


Bedford,  Chairman. 

Richmond. 

Richmond. 

Louisa. 

Rockingham. 

Richmond. 

Richmond. 

King  William. 

Baltimore. 

King  William. 

Hanover. 

Rockingham. 

Leesburg. 

Albemarle. 

Fauquier. 

Montgomery. 

Maryland. 

Lexington. 

Richmond. 

Prince  Edward. 

Surry. 

Winchester. 

King  William. 

Hanover. 

Richmond. 


336  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 


General  JAMES  H.  LANE, 
Colonel  W.  W.  GORDON, 
Hon.  WILLIAM  WELSH, 
Captain  J.  L.  CLARKE, 


North  Carolina. 
New  Kent. 
Kent  County,  Md. 
Baltimore. 


On  Resolutions. 


Colonel  CHARLES  S.  VENABLE, 
Hon.  R  T.  BANKS, 
Major  JOHN  W.  DANIEL, 
Lieut.  RICHARD  H.  CHRISTIAN, 
Major  WILLIAM  H.  CASKIE, 
General  BENJAMIN  HUGER, 
General  WILLIAM  MAHONE, 
General  L.  L.  LOMAX, 
GEORGE  H.  PAGELS,  Esq., 
Colonel  EDMUND  PENDLETON, 
Private  JOHN  A.  ELDER, 
Com.  MATTHEW  F.  MAURY, 
General  GEORGE  H.  STEWART, 
General  C.  W.  FIELD, 
General  W.  S.  WALKER, 
Serg't  LEROY  S.  EDWARDS, 
Lieut.  S.  V.  SOUTHALL, 
Captain  J.  M.  HUDGINS, 
Col.  WILLIAM  E.  CAMERON, 
Colonel  WILLIAM  WATTS, 
General  HARRY  HETH, 
Gen.  WILLIAM  B.  TALIAFERRO, 
General  SAMUEL  JONES, 
Private  JOHN  B.  MORDECAI, 
Capt.  J.  MCHENRY  HOWARD, 
Captain  E.  GRISWOLD, 
Lieutenant  R.  C.  JONES, 


Albemarle,  Chairman. 

Baltimore. 

Lynchburg. 

Richmond. 

Richmond. 

Fauquier. 

Norfolk. 

Fauquier. 

Baltimore. 

Botetourt. 

Richmond. 

Lexington. 

Baltimore. 

Baltimore. 

Georgia. 

Richmond. 

Albemarle. 

Caroline. 

Petersburg. 

Roanoke. 

Baltimore. 

Gloucester. 

Amelia. 

Henrico. 

Baltimore. 

Baltimore. 

Alleghany  County,  Md. 


Lieutenant-General  J.  A.  Early  was  made  temporary  chair 
man  of  the  meeting,  and,  in  taking  the  chair,  made  a  char 
acteristic  address,  from  which  we  take  the  following  extract : 


MUTUAL  LOVE  OF  LEE  AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  337 

"  Friends  and  Comrades :  When  the  inf onnation  of  the 
death  of  our  illustrious  commander  was  flashed  over  the  tele 
graphic  wires  to  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world,  good  men 
everywhere  mourned  the  loss  of  him  who,  in  life,  was  the 
noblest  exemplar  of  his  times,  of  all  that  is  good,  and  true, 
and  great  in  human  nature ;  and  a  cry  of  anguish  was  wrung 
from  the  hearts  of  all  true  Confederate  soldiers,  which  was 
equaled  only  by  that  which  came  up  from  the  same  hearts 
when  the  fact  was  realized  that  the  sword  of  Robert  E.  Lee 
was  sheathed  forever,  and  that  the  banner  to  which  his  deeds 
had  given  such  lustre  was  furled  amid  gloom  and  disaster. 
After  the  first  burst  of  grief  had  subsided,  the  inquiry  arose 
in  the  breasts  of  all,  What  can  we  do  to  manifest  our  esteem 
and  veneration  for  him  we  loved  so  well  ?  It  was  but  neces 
sary  that  the  suggestion  should  be  made,  to  elicit  an  expres 
sion  of  the  general  sentiment.  I  thought  that  I  could  take 
the  liberty  of  making  that  suggestion  to  my  old  comrades, 
and  I  therefore  made  the  call  under  which  you  are  here  as 
sembled.  Although  I  made  that  call  as  the  former  senior  in 
rank  of  all  the  officers  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
now  living  in  the  State,  I  desire  to  say  to  you  that  at  the 
tomb  of  General  Lee  all  distinctions  of  rank  cease.  The 
private  soldier  who,  in  tattered  uniform  and  with  sore  and 
bleeding  feet,  followed  the  banner  upheld  by  Lee  and  Jack 
son,  and  did  not  desert  his  post  or  skulk  in  the  hour  of  dan 
ger,  but  did  his  duty  faithfully  to  the  end  of  therwar,  and  is 
now  doing  his  duty  by  remaining  true  to  the  principles  for 
which  he  fought,  is  the  peer  of  the  most  renowned  in  fame 
or  exalted  in  rank  among  the  survivors.  He  has  an  equal 
share  in  the  proud  heritage  left  us  in  the  memory  of  the  glori 
ous  deeds  and  exalted  virtues  of  our  great  chieftain.  All 
such  I  greet  and  welcome  here,  as  1  do  those  of  every  rank, 
claiming  them  all  as  my  friends,  comrades,  and  brothers. 

"  My  friends,  if  it  is  expected  that  I  shall  on  this  occa 
sion  deliver  a  eulogy  on  General  Lee,  you  will  be  disap 
pointed.  I  have  not  the  language  with  which  to  give  expres- 


338  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

sion  to  my  estimate  of  the  greatness  and  goodness  of  his 
character.  I  will  say,  however,  that,  extended  as  is  his  fame, 
the  world  at  large  has  not  fully  appreciated  the  transcendent 
abilities  of  General  Lee,  nor  realized  the  perfection  of  his 
character.  No  one  who  has  not  witnessed  the  affectionate 
kindness  and  gentleness,  and  often  playfulness,  of  his  manners 
in  private,  his  great  self-control  and  dignity  in  dealing  with 
important  public  affairs,  the  exhibition  of  his  high  and  un 
yielding  sense  of  duty  on  all  occasions,  and  the  majestic 
grandeur  of  his  action  and  appearance  in  the  shock  of  battle, 
can  form  more  than  an  approximate  estimate  of  his  real 
character." 

The  following  permanent  officers  were  elected  : 

President. 
Hon.  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Vice-Presidents. 

Maj.-Gen'l  JOHN  B.  GORDON.  Major-General  Frrz  LEE. 

Maj.-Gen'l  EDWARD  JOHNSON.  Colonel  HENRY  PEYTON. 

Maj.-Gen'l  J.  R.  TRIMBLE.  Colonel  J.  L.  FRENCH. 

Maj.-Gen'l  W.  B.  TAUAFERRO.  Colonel  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS. 

Brig.-Gen'l  WM.  N.  PENDLETON.  Major  WM.  N.  BERKELEY. 

Maj.-Gen'l  WILLIAM  SMITH.  Colonel  WILLIAM  WILLIS. 

Brig.-Gen'l  J.  D.  IMBODEN.  Col.  WM.  PRESTON  JOHNSON. 

Colonel  CHARLES  MARSHALL.  Captain  MANN  PAGE. 

Colonel  WALTER  H.  TAYLOR.  Corporal  WILLIAM  C.  KEAN. 

Colonel  W.  K.  PERRIN.  Private  ROBERT  MARTIN, 
Colonel  PEYTON  N.  WISE.  "       G.  HOUGH. 

General  M.  RANSOM.  "       G.  ELDER. 

Captain  ROBERT  PEGRAM.  Serg't  W.  WIRT  ROBINSON. 
General  L.  L.  LOMAX. 

/Secretaries. 

Captain  E.  S.  GREGORY.  Private  ABNER  ANDERSON. 

Sergeant  GEORGE  L.  CHRISTIAN.     Captain  THOS.  D.  HOUSTON. 
Captain  C.  G.  LAWSON.  Captain  GEORGE  WALKER. 

Sergeant  JAMES  P.  COWARDIN.        Major  WILLIAM  B.  MYERS. 
Captain  W.  A.  ANDERSON. 


MUTUAL  LOVE   OF  LEE  AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  339 

The  advance  of  Mr.  Davis  to  the  platform  was  greeted 
with  a  burst  of  irrepressible  enthusiasm,  which  plainly 
showed  that  he  still  had  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  his 
old  soldiers.  His  address  (from  which  we  have  quoted  in  a 
previous  chapter,  and  now  give  the  following  extracts) 
thrilled  every  heart,  and  elicited  the  most  unbounded  ex 
pressions  of  approbation.  JEFFERSON  DAVIS'S  tribute  to 
ROBEET  E.  LEE  will  always  deserve  a  place  on  the  page  of 
history.  He  began  by  'saying  : 

"  Soldiers  and  Sailors  of  the  Confederacy,  Countrymen 
and  Friends :  Assembled  on  this  sad  occasion,  with  hearts 
oppressed  with  the  grief  that  follows  the  loss  of  him  who 
was  our  leader  on  many  a  bloody  battle-field,  there  is  a  melan 
choly  pleasure  in  the  spectacle  which  is  presented.  Hitherto, 
in  all  times,  men  have  been  honored  when  successful ;  but 
here  is  the  case  of  one  who,  amid  disaster,  went  down  to  his 
grave,  and  those  who  were  his  companions  in  misfortune 
have  assembled  to  honor  his  memory.  It  is  as  much  an 
honor  to  you  who  give  as  to  him  who  receives,  for  above  the 
vulgar  test  of  merit  you  show  yourselves  competent  to  dis 
criminate  between  him  who  enjoys  and  him  who  deserves 
success. 

"  Robert  E/  Lee  was  my  associate  and  friend  in  the  Mili 
tary  Academy,  and  we  were  friends  until  the  hour  of  his 
death.  We  were  associates  and  friends  when  he  was  a  sol 
dier  and  I  a  Congressman ;  and  associates  and  friends  when 
he  led  the  armies  of  the  Confederacy  and  I  held .  civil  office, 
and  therefore  I  may  claim  to  speak  as  one  who  knew  him. 
In  the  many  sad  scenes  and  perilous  circumstances  through 
which  we  passed  together,  our  conferences  were  frequent 
and  full,  yet  never  was  there  an  occasion  on  which  there  was 
not  entire  harmony  of  purpose  and  accordance  as  to  means. 
If  ever  there  was  difference  of  opinion,  it  was  dissipated  by 
discussion,  and  harmony  was  the  result.  I  repeat,  we  never 
disagreed,  and  I  may  add  that  I  never  in  my  life  saw  in  him 
the  slightest  tendency  to  self-seeking.  It  was  not  his  to 


340  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

make  a  record,  it  was  not  his  to  shift  blame  to  other  shoul 
ders  ;  but  it  was  his  with  an  eye  fixed  upon  the  welfare  of 
his  country,  never  faltering,  to  follow  the  line  of  duty  to  the 
end.  His  was  the  heart  that  braved  every  difficulty ;  his 
was  the  mind  that  wrought  victory  out  of  defeat. 

"  He  has  been  charged  with  *  want  of  dash.'  I  wish  to 
say  that  I  never  knew  Lee  to  decline  to  attempt  any  thing 
man  might  dare." 

He  then  gave  the  incidents  quoted  in  a  previous  chapter, 
defended  General  Lee  in  his  conduct  of  the  Gettysburg  and 
other  campaigns,  and  continued  as  follows : 

"  I  shall  not  attempt  to  review  the  military  career  of  our 
deceased  chieftain.  Of  the  man,  how  shall  I  speak?  He 
was  my  friend,  and  in  that  word  is  included  all  that  I  could 
say  of  any  man.  His  moral  qualities  rose  to  the  height  of 
his  genius.  Self-denying — always  intent  upon  the  one  idea 
of  duty — self-controlled  to  an  extent  that  many  thought  him 
cold — his  feelings  were  really  warm,  and  his  heart  melted 
readily  at  the  sufferings  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan,  and 
his  eye  rested  with  mournful  tenderness  upon  the  wounded 
soldier.  During  the  war  he  was  ever  conscious  of  the  in 
sufficiency  of  the  means  at  his  control ;  but  it  was  never  his 
to  complain  or  to  utter  a  doubt — it  was  always  his  to  do. 
When  in  the  last  campaign  he  was  beleaguered  at  Petersburg, 
and  painfully  aware  of  the  straits  to  which  we  were  reduced, 
he  said,  <  With  my  army  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia  I 
could  carry  on  this  war  for  twenty  years  longer.'  His  army 
greatly  diminished,  his  transportation  deficient,  he  could  only 
hope  to  protract  the  defense  until  the  roads  should  become 
firm  enough  to  enable  him  to  retire.  An  untoward  event 
caused  him  to  anticipate  the  movement,  and  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  was  overwhelmed.  But  in  the  surrender 
he  trusted  to  conditions  that  have  not  been  fulfilled:  he 
expected  his  army  to  be  respected  and  his  paroled  soldiers  to 
be  allowed  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  civil  rights  and  prop 
erty.  Whether  these  conditions  have  been  fulfilled,  I  leave  it 
to  others  to  determine. 


MUTUAL  LOVE   OF  LEE   AND   HIS   SOLDIERS.  341 

"  Here  he  now  sleeps  in  the  land  he  loved  so  well,  and 
that  land  is  not  Virginia  only,  for  they  do  injustice  to  Lee 
who  believe  he  fought  only  for  Virginia.  He  was  ready  to 
go  anywhere,  on  any  service  for  the  good  of  his  country, 
and  his  heart  was  as  broad  as  the  ffteen  States  struggling 
for  the  principles  that  our  forefathers  fought  for  in  tfte 
Revolution  of  1776.  He  sleeps  with  the  thousands  who 
fought  under  the  same  flag — and  happiest  they  who  first  of 
fered  up  their  lives ! — he  sleeps  in  the  soil  to  him  and  to  them 
most  dear.  That  flag  was  furled  when  there  was  none  to 
bear  it.  Around  it  we  are  assembled,  a  remnant  of  the  liv 
ing,  to  do  honor  to  his  memory,  and  there  is  an  army  of 
skeleton  sentinels  to  keep  watch  above  his  grave.  This  good 
citizen,  this  gallant  soldier,  this  great  general,  this  true  patriot, 
had  yet  a  higher  praise  than  this  or  these — he  was  a  true 
Christian.  The  Christianity  which  ennobled  his  life  gives  to 
us  the  consolatory  belief  that  he  is  happy  beyond  the  grave. 

"  But,  while  we  mourn  the  loss  of  the  great  and  the  true, 
drop  we  also  tears  of  sympathy  with  her  who  was  a  help 
meet  to  him — the  noble  woman  who,  while  her  husband  was 
in  the  field  leading  the  army  of  the  Confederacy,  though 
an  invalid  herself,  passed  the  time  in  knitting  socks  for  the 
inarching  soldiers !  A  woman  fit  to  be  the  mother  of  heroes, 
and  heroes  are  descended  from  her.  Mourning  with  her,  we 
can  only  offer  the  consolations  of  the  Christian.  Our  loss  is 
not  his,  but  he  now  enjoys  the  rewards  of  a  life  well  spent, 
and  a  never  wavering  trust  in  a  risen  Saviour.  This  day  we 
unite  our  words  of  sorrow  with  those  of  the  good  and  great 
throughout  Christendom,  for  his  fame  is  gone  over  the 
water — his  deeds  will  be  remembered  ;  and,  when  the  monu 
ment  we  build  shall  have  crumbled  into  dust,  his  virtues  will 
still  live,  a  high  model  for  the  imitation  of  generations 
,yet  unborn." 

Colonel  Charles  S.  Tenable,  of  the  University  of  Vir 
ginia,  then  presented  the  appropriate  resolutions,  which  were 
enthusiastically  adopted  by  the  meeting,  and  made  the  elo- 


342  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

quent  address  from  which  we  have  quoted  in   a  previous 
chapter. 

General  John  S.  Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  then  made 
an  eloquent  address,  from  which  we  make  the  following  ex 
tract  : 

"  Mr.  President  and  Comrades  of  the  Army  of  tlie  Con 
federate  States :  There  was  a  time  when,  with  wicked  and 
impatient  infidelity,  I  feared  it  was  not  a  kind  Providence 
which  permitted  men  with  gray  beards  to  survive  our  war. 
But,  having  seen  Robert  Lee  live  as  righteously  as  he  fought 
gloriously,  and  that  we  are  now  spared  to  the  holy  duty  of 
honoring  his  memory  and  perpetuating  his  faith,  I  recant 
the  heresy,  and  meekly  wait  the  way  of  the  Lord ;  and  am 
grateful  for  that  consideration  which  calls  me  to  appear  in 
this  stately  procession.  Yet  I  scarcely  dare  to  bring  my 
little  blade  of  grass  to  lay  upon  a  grave  already  glittering 
with  tears  and  pearls,  flowing  from  the  eyes  and  hearts  of  a 
mourning  world.  On  no  occasion  of  my  life  have  I  been 
so  utterly  unable  to  tell  the  feelings  of  my  heart,  or  the 
crowding  thoughts  which  come  rushing  on  my  brain.  But, 
comrades,  we  are  not  here  to  find  rhetorical  forms,  modes, 
and  shows  of  grief,  not  even  to  speak  singly,  but  all  together, 
as  in  these  complete  resolutions,  with  one  tongue,  one  heart, 
in  the  simplest  words  of  our  language,  to  join  our  grief  and 
our  honor. 

"  As  a  Yirginian,  as  a  Confederate,  as  a  man,  as  a  friend, 
I  am  overwhelmed  with  the  emotions  which  emanate  from 
all  these  attributes  of  my  being.  Standing  here  before  the 
most  illustrious  and  the  bravest  living,  I  feel  as  if  I  were  in 
the  very  presence  of  the  greatest  dead  who  has  died  in  my 
generation — of  him  to  whom  my  spirit  bowed  as  to  the 
anointed  champion  of  the  purest  human  faith  I  have  ever 
cherished — of  him  who,  by  his  great  deeds,  by  his  pure 
life,  by  his  humble  faith  in  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  has 
justified  to  the  world,  and  is  now  pleading  with  a  God  of 
truth  for,  that  cause  which  made  him  the  most  illustrious 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF  LEE  AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  343 

living  man  and  the  most  mourned  of  all  the  dead  who  have 
died  in  his  generation.  It  was  the  greatness  of  his  cause, 
and  the  purity  of  his  faith  in  that  cause,  which  made  Eobert 
Lee  great,  for  we  who  know  him  best  do  know  that  Rob 
ert  Lee  could  never  have  achieved  greatness  in  an  ignoble 
cause,  or  under  an  impure  faith.  God  gave  him  to  us,  to 
sanctify  our  faith,  and  to  show  us  and  the  world  that, 
although  we  might  fail,  his  chosen  servant  had  made  that 
cause  forever  holy." 

General  Preston  was  followed  by  General  John  B.  Gor 
don,  of  Georgia,  who  spoke  as  follows : 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies,  and  Fellow-Soldiers :  If  per 
mitted  to  indulge  the  sensibilities  of  my  nature,  I  would 
gladly  have  fled  the  performance  of  this  most  honorable 
task  your  kindness  has  imposed,  and  in  silence  to-night  have 
contemplated  the  virtues  of  the  great  and  good  man  whose 
loss  we  so  deplore.  I  loved  General  Lee,  for  it  was  my  proud 
privilege  to  have  known  him  well.  I  loved  him  with  a  pro 
found  and  filial  awe — a  sincere  and  unfeigned  affection. 
We  all  loved  him,  and  it  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  Virginia  should  contend  for  that 
sweetest  of  all  privileges  now  left  us — to  keep  special  watch 
over  his  grave. 

"  But  where  his  remains  shall  lie  is  not  the  subject  we  are 
here  to  consider.  We  are  met  to  provide,  as  suggested  by 
the  resolutions,  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  in  honor  of 
our  great  captain.  Honor,  did  I  say  ?  Honor  General  Lee  ! 
How  vain  1  what  utter  mockery  do  these  words  seem  ! 
Honor  Lee !  Why,  my  friends,  his  deeds  have  honored 
him.  The  very  trump  of  Fame  is  proud  to  honor  him. 
Europe  and  the  civilized  world  have  honored  him  supremely, 
and  history  itself  will  catch  the  echo  and  make  it  immortal. 
Honor  Lee !  Why,  sir,  the  sad  news  of  his  death,  as  it  was 
borne  to  the  world,  carried  a  pang  even  to  the  hearts  of  mar 
shals  and  of  monarchs ;  and  I  can  easily  fancy  that,  amid 
the  din,  and  clash,  and  carnage  of  battle,  the  cannon,  in  tran 


344     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

sient  pause  at  the  whispered  news,  briefly  ceased  its  roar 
around  the  walls  of  Paris. 

"  The  brief  time  it  would  be  proper  for  me  to  occupy  to 
night  is  altogether  insufficient  to  analyze  the  elements  which 
made  him  great.  But  I  wish  to  say  that  it  has  been  my  for 
tune  in  life  to  have  come  in  contact  with  some  whom  the 
world  pronounced  great ;  but  of  no  man  whom  it  has  ever 
been  my  fortune  to  meet  can  it  be  so  truthfully  said,  as  of 
Lee,  that,  grand  as  might  be  your  conceptions  of  the  man 
before,  he  arose  in  incomparable  majesty  on  more  familiar 
acquaintance.  This  can  be  affirmed  of  few  men  who  have 
ever  lived  or  died,  and  of  no  other  man  whom  it  has  been 
my  fortune  to  approach.  Like  Niagara,  the  more  you  gazed 
the  more  its  grandeur  grew  upon  you,  the  more  its  majesty 
expanded  and  filled  your  spirit  with  a  full  satisfaction,  that 
left  a  perfect  delight  without  the  slightest  feeling  of  oppres 
sion.  Grandly  majestic  and  dignified  in  all  his  deportment, 
he  was  genial  as  the  sunlight  of  May,  and  not  a  ray  of  that 
cordial,  social  intercourse  but  brought  warmth  to  the  heart, 
as  it  did  light  to  the  understanding." 

General  Gordon  then  gave  the  discussion  of  General  Lee's 
military  career,  which  is  quoted  in  a  previous  chapter,  and 
proceeded  as  follows : 

"  General  Lee  is  known  to  the  world  only  as  a  military 
man,  but  it  is  easy  to  divine  from  his  history  how  mindful 
of  all  just  authority,  how  observant  of  all  constitutional 
restrictions  would  have  been  his  career  as  a  civilian.  When, 
near  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  darkness  was  thickening 
about  the  falling  fortunes  of  the  Confederacy,  when  its  very 
life  was  in  the  sword  of  Lee,  it  was  my  proud  privilege  to 
note,  with  special  admiration,  the  modest  demeanor,  the 
manly  decorum,  and  the  respectful  homage,  which  marked 
all  his  intercourse  with  the  constituted  authorities  of  his 
country.  Clothed  with  all  power,  he  hid  its  every  symbol 
behind  a  genial  modesty,  and  refused  to  exert  it  save  in  obe 
dience  to  law.  And  even  in  his  triumphant  entry  into  the 


MUTUAL  LOVE   OF  LEE  AND  HIS  SOLDIERS.  345 

territory  of  the  enemy,  so  regardful  was  lie  of  civilized  war 
fare,  that  the  observance  of  his  general  orders  as  to  private 
property  and  private  rights  left  the  line  of  his  march  marked 
and  marred  by  no  devastated  fields,  charred  ruins,  or  deso 
lated  homes. 

"  But  it  is  his  private  character,  or  rather,  I  should  say 
his  personal  emotion  and  virtues,  which  his  countrymen  will 
most  delight  to  consider  and  dwell  upon.  His  magnanimity, 
transcending  all  historic  precedents,  seemed  to  form  a  new 
chapter  in  the  book  of  humanity.  "Witness  that  letter  to 
Jackson,  after  his  wounds  at  Chancellorsville,  in  which  he 
said,  <I  am  praying  for  you  with  more  fervor  than  I  ever 
prayed  for  myself ; '  and  that  other,  more  disinterested  and 
pathetic,  '  I  could  for  the  good  of  my  country  wish  that  the 
wounds  which  you  have  received  had  been  inflicted  upon  my 
own  body ; '  or  that  of  the  later  message,  <  Say  to  General 
Jackson  that  his  wounds  are  not  so  severe  as  mine,  for  he 
loses  but  his  left  arm,  while  I,  in  him,  lose  my  right ; '  or 
that  other  expression  of  unequaled  magnanimity  in  which 
he  ascribed  the  glory  of  their  joint  victory  to  the  sole  credit 
of  the  dying  hero.  Did  I  say  unequaled?  Yes,  that  was 
an  avowal  of  unequaled  magnanimity,  until  it  met  its  paral 
lel  in  his  own  grander  self-negation,  in  assuming  the  sole 
responsibility  for  the  failure  at  Gettysburg.  Ay,  my  coun 
trymen,  Alexander  had  his  Arbela,  Caesar  his  Pharsalia,  Na 
poleon  his  Austerlitz,  but  it  was  reserved  for  Lee  to  grow 
grander  and  more  illustrious  in  defeat  than  ever  in  victory — 
grander,  because  in  defeat  he  showed  a  spirit  grander  than 
victory,  the  heroism  of  battles,  or  all  the  achievements  of  the 
war — a  spirit  wrhich  crowns  him  with  a  chaplet  greener  far 
than  ever  mighty  conqueror  wore. 

"  I  turn  me  now  to  that  last  closing  scene  at  Appomat- 
tox,  and  draw  thence  a  picture  of  this  man  as  he  laid  aside 
the  sword  of  the  unrivaled  soldier,  to  become  the  most  ex 
emplary  of  citizens. 

"I  can  never  forget  the  deferential  homage  paid  this 


346  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

great  captain  by  even  the  Federal  soldiery,  as  with  uncovered 
heads  they  contemplated  in  mute  admiration  this  now  cap 
tive  hero,  as  he  rode  through  their  ranks.  Impressed  for 
ever,  daguerreotyped  on  my  heart,  is  that  last  parting  scene 
with  the  handful  of  heroes  still  crowding  around  him.  Few, 
indeed,  were  the  words  then  spoken,  but  the  quivering  lip 
and  the  tearful  eye  told  of  the  love  they  bore  him,  in  sym 
phonies  more  eloquent  than  any  language  can  describe.  Can 
I  ever  forget?  No,  never,  never,  can  I  forget  the  words 
which  fell  from  his  lips  as  I  rode  beside  him  amid  the  de 
jected  and  weeping  soldiery,  when  turning  to  me  he  said,  { I 
could  wish  that  I  were  numbered  among  the  fallen  in  the 
last  battle ; '  and  oh !  as  he  thought  of  the  loss  of  the  cause — 
of  the  many  dead  scattered  over  so  many  fields,  who  sleeping 
neglected,  with  no  governmental  arms  to  gather  up  their 
remains,  sleeping  isolated  and  alone  beneath  the  tearful 
stars,  with  naught  but  their  soldier-blankets  about  them; 
oh !  as  these  emotions  swept  over  his  great  soul,  he  felt  that 
he  would  fain  have  laid  him  down  to  rest  in  the  same  grave 
where  lies  buried  the  common  hope  of  his  people.  But 
Providence  willed  it  otherwise.  He  rests  now  forever,  my 
countrymen,  his  spirit  in  the  bosom  of  that  Father  whom  he 
so  faithfully  served,  his  body  in  the  Yalley,  surrounded  by 
the  mountains  of  his  native  State — mountains  the  autumnal 
glories  of  whose  magnificent  forests  now  seem  but  habili 
ments  of  mourning — in  the  Yalley,  the  pearly  dew-drops  on 
whose  grass  and  flowers  seem  but  tears  of  sadness  : 

*  No  sound  shall  awake  him  to  glory  again.' 

"No  more  shall  he  lead  his  invincible  lines  to  victory. 
No  more  shall  we  gaze  upon  him,  and  draw  from  his  quiet 
demeanor  lessons  of  life.  But  oh  !  it  is  a  sweet  consolation 
to  us,  who  loved  him,  that  no  more  shall  his  bright  spirit  be 
bowed  down  to  the  earth  with  the  burden  of  his  people's 
wrongs.  It  is  sweet  consolation  to  us  that  this  last  victory, 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF   LEE  AND  HIS  SOLDIERS.  317 

through  faith  in  his  crucified  Redeemer,  is  the  most  tran- 
scendently  glorious  of  all  his  triumphs. 

"  It  is  meet  that  we  should  build  to  his  memory  a  monu 
ment  here ;  here  in  this  devoted  city ;  here  on  these  classic 
hills — a  monument  as  enduring  as  their  granite  foundations 
— here  beside  the  river,  whose  banks  are  ever  memorable, 
and  whose  waters  are  vocal  with  the  glories  of  his  triumphs. 

"  Here  let  the  monument  stand,  as  a  testimonial  to  all 
peoples,  and  countries,  and  ages,  of  our  appreciation  of  the 
man  who,  in  all  the  aspects  of  his  career,  and  character,  and 
attainments — as  a  great  captain,  ranking  among  the  first  of 
any  age ;  as  a  patriot,  whose  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  his 
country  renders  him  the  peer  of  "Washington ;  as  a  Chris 
tian  like  Havelock,  recognizing  his  duty  to  his  God  above 
every  other  consideration ;  with  a  native  modesty  which  re 
fused  to  appropriate  a  glory  all  his  own,  and  which  sur 
rounds  with  a  halo  of  light  his  whole  career  and  character ; 
with  a  fidelity  to  principle  which  no  misfortunes  could  shake ; 
with  an  integrity  of  life  and  sacred  reverence  for  truth  which 
no  man  can  dare  to  assail — must  ever  stand  peerless  among 
men  in  the  estimation  of  Christendom." 

Colonel  Charles  Marshall  next  delivered  the  following  ad 
dress,  which  we  give  in  full,  as  beautifully  illustrating  the 
influence  of  General  Lee  over  his  disbanded  soldierSj  as  well 
as  their  warm  affection  for  him,  and  ardent  desire  to  honor 
his  memory : 

"  Nothing  but  an  earnest  desire  to  do  all  in  my  power  to 
promote  the  object  of  our  meeting  to-night  induces  me  to 
occupy  this  stand.  I  feel  my  unfitness  to  address  those  who 
have  listened  to  men  whose  names,  I  may  say,  without  flat 
tery,  are  historic — whose  valor  and  constancy  deserved  and 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  our  great  leader.  More  especially 
am  I  unworthy  to  stand  where  just  now  he  stood,  who — amid 
all  the  cares  and  trials  of  the  eventful  period  during  which 
he  guided  the  destinies  of  the  Confederacy;  amid  all  the 
dangers  and  difficulties  that  surrounded  him;  amid  all  the 


348  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

vicissitudes  of  victory  and  disaster — always  and  on  all  occa 
sions,  gave  the  aid  of  his  eminent  abilities,  his  unfaltering 
courage,  and  his  pure  patriotism,  to  our  illustrious  chief. 

"  But,  on  behalf  of  those  who  are  with  me  to-night  from 
Maryland,  I  desire  to  say  a  few  words  in  support  of  the  reso 
lutions  of  the  committee. 

"  These  resolutions  require  that  a  monument  shall  be 
erected,  and  that  it  shall  be  erected  in  Eichmond. 

"  In  both  propositions  we  most  heartily  concur. 

"  We  are  assembled,  not  to  provide  for  the  erection  of  a 
tombstone  on  which  to  write,  '  Here  lies  KOBEKT  E.  LEE,' 
but  to  rear  a  cloud-piercing  monument  which  shall  tell  to 
coming  generations, 

'HERE  LIVED  ROBERT  E.  LEE.' 

"  We  desire  something  worthy  to  transmit  the  lesson  of 
his  example,  and  of  our  undying  love,  to  posterity ;  and  to 
this  end  we  invoke  the  aid  not  only  of  those  who  followed 
the  flashing  of  his  stainless  sword,  but  of  all  who  reverence 
the  memory  of  his  spotless  life.  We  wish  to  concentrate  all 
efforts  upon  the  attainment  of  this  great  end,  not  that  we 
may  honor  him,  but  that  we  may  preserve,  for  the  good  of 
all  mankind,  the  memory  of  his  achievements,  and  the  teach 
ing  of  his  example. 

"  And  it  is  eminently  proper  that  such  a  monument 
should  be  erected  in  Richmond. 

"  Here  was  the  scene  of  his  greatest  labors  and  his  great 
est  triumphs.  In  defense  of  this  city  he  displayed  those 
great  qualities  which  have  given  him  the  lofty  position  as 
signed  him  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  his  time,  and  secured 
for  him  the  love,  the  gratitude,  and  the  affectionate  venera 
tion  of  the  people  for  whose  liberties  he  fought. 

"  All  his  campaigns,  all  the  battles,  whether  among  the 
hills  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  or  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Chickahominy  and  the  Appomattox,  had  for  their  great 
object  the  protection  of  Richmond. 


MUTUAL  LOVE   OF  LEE   AND   IIIS   SOLDIERS.  349 

"  Here  lie  buried  the  dead  of  every  State  from  Maryland 
to  Texas,  and  to  this  spot,  to  Hollywood,  the  hearts  of  wives, 
of  mothers,  and  of  sisters,  from  the  banks  of  the  Potomac 
to  those  of  the  Kio  Grande,  are  ever  sadly  but  proudly 
turning. 

"  No  other  place  in  the  South  unites  so  entirely  the  sym 
pathies  and  affections  of  her  people. 

"  To  raise  his  monument  here  within  sight  of  the  fields 
on  which  he  won  his  fame,  and  among  the  graves  of  those 
who  were  faithful  to  him  unto  death,  seems  to  us,  therefore, 
to  be  most  appropriate.  We  do  not  propose  now  to  say  what 
that  monument  shall  be,  but  to  adopt  measures  which  will 
enable  us  to  invite  the  taste,  the  cultivation,  and  the  genius 
of  our  age  to  compete  in  furnishing  a  suitable  design. 

"  And  we  hope  to  find  some  one  who  can  rise  to  the 
height  of  the  great  argument,  grasping  the  subject,  realizing 
the  character  and  achievements  of  our  leader,  feeling  the 
love,  the  gratitude,  the  veneration  of  our  people,  and,  group 
ing  all  around  this  hallowed  spot,  write  in  one  enduring 
word  the  story  of  General  Lee,  his  army,  and  his  country. 

"  There  is  one  other  reason  why  we  should  erect  a  monu 
ment,  and  why  we  should  erect  it  here.  It  is  that  we  may 
perpetuate  for  our  guidance  the  lesson  taught  by  his  example 
when  war  was  done,  and  all  his  efforts  had  ended  in  failure. 
In  that  lesson,  the  whole  country  has  an  immediate  interest. 
History  presents  no  parallel  to  the  sudden  cessation  of  re 
sistance  on  the  part  of  the  Southern  people  after  the  surren 
der  at  Appomattox.  In  a  few  short  weeks,  where  armies 
had  but  lately  confronted  each  other,  peace  was  fully  re 
stored,  and  not  an  armed  Southron  could  be  found  within 

our  borders. 

'  It  seemed  as  if  their  mother  earth 
Had  swallowed  up  her  warlike  birth.' 

"  The  Federal  Government  manifested  its  confidence  in 
the  pledges  made  by  the  soldiers  and  people  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  by  sending  companies  and  regiments,  to  control  those 


350  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

before  whom  corps  and  armies  had  fled.  That  government 
knew  well  that  the  handful  of  troops  sent  ostensibly  to  over 
awe  the  South  could  repose  securely  upon  that  honor  which 
they  insulted  by  their  presence. 

"  And  in  that  confidence,  shame  be  it  said,  wrongs  were 
inflicted  upon  our  people,  which,  we  have  the  authority  of 
unquestioned  loyalty  for  saying,  ought  not  to  be  meekly 
borne  by  men  of  English  blood. 

"  But  the  Federal  Government  knew  that  the  Southern 
people  looked  for  guidance  to  their  leaders,  and  that,  fore 
most  among  those  leaders,  they  looked  to  General  Lee.  He 
had  given  the  pledge  of  his  honor,  and  his  people  regarded 
his  honor  as  their  own. 

"  Relying  upon  his  influence  with  his  countrymen,  and 
knowing  that  his  influence  would  be  exerted  to  secure  the 
most  perfect  compliance  with  the  terms  of  his  surrender, 
the  dominant  party  in  the  North  entered  upon  a  course  of 
systematic  oppression  and  insult  which  would  have  justified 
him  in  renouncing  the  obligations  of  the  terms  made  at  Ap- 
pomattox. 

"  But  his  word  was  given,  and  nothing  could  change  it. 
The  dastardly  wrongs  inflicted  upon  his  people  could  break 
and  did  break  his  great  heart,  but  could  not  make  him 
swerve  from  his  truth.  He  bore  all  in  silence  until  he 
died,  and  his  people  looked  upon  him  and  gathered  strength 
to  bear. 

"  New  outrages  upon  our  liberties  and  rights,  new  in 
sults  to  our  honor,  may  tempt  us  sometimes  to  forget  that 
our  hands  no  longer  hold  the  sabre  or  the  rifle.  To  whom 
shall  we  turn  for  that  strength  which  will  enable  us  to  keep 
faith  with  the  faithless  ? 

"  We  can  no  longer  see  the  noble  example  which  he  set 
before  us,  but,  that  we  may  not  err  from  the  path  in  which 
he  trod,  let  us  here,  at  the  place  toward  which  the  eyes  and 
hearts  of  all  our  people  turn,  rear  a  monument,  to  which, 
when  tempted  to  resist,  we  may  look,  and  learn  afresh  the 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF   LEE  AND  HIS  SOLDIERS.  351 

lesson  of  that  sublime  patience  which  he  illustrated,  and 
which,  rny  fellow-soldiers  and  countrymen,  be  assured,  will, 
like  the  anvil,  wear  out  many  hammers." 

General  Henry  A.  "Wise  (ex-Governor  of  Virginia)  then 
made  a  characteristic  address,  from  which  we  make  the  fol 
lowing  extract : 

"  Mr.  President  and  Comrades  of  the  Confederacy :  I 
cannot  trust  the  fullness  of  my  heart  at  the  moment  of  this 
meeting  to  prompt  my  lips  with  the  words  becoming  the 
bier  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee,  whose  death  has  called  to 
gether  some  of  his  surviving  comrades. 

"It  is  no  occasion  for  any  sketch  of  biography  or  his 
tory  ;  eulogy  upon  his  life  and  death  is  vain  ;  his  character 
excels  all  praise  ;  his  merits  need  not  to  be  disclosed,  and  his 
faults  had  no  '  dread  abodes,'  for  they  all  leaned  to  virtue's 
side.  Whatever  faults  he  had,  and  whatever  blame  belonged 
to  him,  no  friend  or  foe  could  point  them  out  half  as  readily 
as  his  truthful  ingenuousness  would  admit  and  mourn  them. 
He  was  swifter  than  the  accuser  to  accuse  himself,  and  ever 
generous  to  the  faults  of  others ;  he  was  ever  foremost  to 
acknowledge  his  own.  If  nothing  is  to  be  said  of  the  dead 
but  what  is  good,  there  is  a  superabundance  of  good  in  his 
life  and  death  to  compose  volumes  for  the  instruction  of 
mankind.  He  is  departed  and  gone  to  his  Father,  but  it 
cannot  be  said  of  him  that  he  is  l  no  more.'  His  fame  is 
left  to  earth  for  all  time  —  his  great  and  good  soul  is  in 
heaven  for  all  eternity ;  and  from  his  example  proceed  a 
moral  power  and  divine  force  which  all  the  arms  of  earth 
and  powers  of  darkness  cannot  subdue,  a  wisdom  and  virtue 
which  shall  hover  over  the  land  he  loved,  and  spread  it  with 
the  fruits  of  righteousness  and  truth.  That  is  enough  to  be 
said  of  him,  and  it  is  left  for  us  to  cherish  his  memory,  and 
keep  the  legacies  of  lessons  he  taught. 

"  The  first  fruit  of  his  demise  is  the  happy  result  of 
bringing  us  together,  for  the  first  time  since  he  gave  up  the 
sword,  which  he  accepted  with  the  pledge  to  devote  it  to  the 


352  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

gods  and  the  altars  of  his  home,  and  to  sheathe  it  only  when 
his  work  was  finished.  He  sheathed  it  not  until  his  whole 
duty  was  discharged  and  his  work  was  done.  He  made  us 
honor,  love,  and  confide  in  him,  and  taught  us  how  to  de 
serve  the  honor,  love,  and  confidence  of  each  other ;  and  I 
pray  you  now  to  form  a  brotherhood  in  peace  which  shall 
perpetuate  our  comradeship  in  war,  worthy  of  the  armies  of 
the  Confederacy  and  of  their  illustrious  chief." 

The  next  speaker  was  Colonel  Wm.  Preston  Johnston 
(son  of  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston),  of  Washington  and 
Lee  University,  who  opened  his  address  as  follows  : 

"J/k  President  and  Fellow -Soldier s :  A  few  minutes 
since,  I  was  informed  that  I  was  expected  to  address  you. 
This  unexpected  honor  greatly  embarrasses  me,  tired  with 
two  days'  travel,  just  off  the  cars,  and  physically  unfit  to  ap 
pear  before  you.  It  would  ill  become  me,  moreover,  to  follow 
with  any  elaborate  attempt  the  golden -mouthed  orator  of 
Virginia,  or  to  utter  panegyric  after  him  whose  lightest  word 
makes  history ;  and  who,  while  he  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
Confederacy,  never  failed  to  cheer  his  chosen  captain  with 
counsel  and  comfort,  or  to  uphold  his  arm  in  the  hour  of  bat 
tle  with  all  the  force  at  his  command.  It  would  ill  become 
me  here,  surrounded  by  the  soldiers  who  shared  in  the  glo 
ries  of  Lee,  and  after  the  speeches  of  his  trusted  military 
friends  and  of  his  great  lieutenants,  who  rode  down  with 
him  to  battle,  to  paint  again  the  meridian  splendor  of  his 
great  campaigns.  But,  if  you  are  willing  to  listen  to  some 
brief  passages  of  his  latter  life,  I  will  not  detain  you  long. 

"  It  was  my  fortune  after  the  war  to  be  called  from  my 
distant  home  in  Kentucky  by  a  request  which,  in  the  mouth 
of  General  Lee,  was  to  me  equivalent  to  a  command.  For 
four  years  I  have  watched  with  reverential  affection  the  final 
scenes  of  that  life,  so  magnificent  in  achievements  and  then 
so  beautiful  toward  its  end.  When  he  had  gone  down 
through  the  bitter  waters  of  Appomattox  from  the  martial 
glories  of  the  war  to  the  quiet  of  civic  pursuits,  that  life,  al- 


MUTUAL   LOVE   OF  LEE  AND   HIS  SOLDIERS.  353 

ways  consecrated  to  duty,  was  rounded  to  a  perfect  close. 
Turning  his  face  to  the  desolated  land  for  which  he  had  done 
and  suffered  so  much,  he  stretched  forth  his  hand  to  stanch 
the  wounds  he  had  been  unable  to  avert,  and  that  hand  will 
ingly  did  the  work  it  found  to  do.  As  President  of  Wash 
ing  College,  teaching  the  sons  of  his  soldiers  by  precept  and 
example,  he  presented  to  the  world  the  noble  spectacle  of 
one  who  could  take  up  the  several  threads  of  a  career,  broken 
by  disaster,  and  bind  them  in  all  their  former  strength  and 
usefulness.  Here  in  the  sunset  of  his  days  shone  forth  his  ex 
alted  worth,  the  wonderful  tenderness  of  his  nature,  and  the 
dignity  and  composure  of  his  soul.  As  an  illustration  of  some 
of  these  qualities,  I  may  mention  that  the  last  hours  of  his 
active  life  were  spent  in  a  vestry-meeting,  where  I  was  pres 
ent,  and  that  he  there  evinced  great  solicitude  that  the  vet 
eran  soldier  of  the  Cross,  who  served  as  his  minister,  should 
be  secure  of  a  decent  maintenance,  and  that  the  house  of 
God  where  he  worshiped  should  be  a  not  unworthy  temple 
to  his  name.  Yet,  even  there,  he  passed  the  few  minutes 
preceding  the  meeting  in  smoothing  away  the  asperities 
springing  from  differences  of  opinion,  with  playful  anecdote 
and  pleasant  reminiscence  of  that  saintly  servant  of  God, 
Bishop  Meade,  and  that  noble  pillar  of  constitutional  juris 
prudence,  Chief-Justice  Marshall. 

"  Fifteen  minutes  after  we  parted  from  him  he  was  strick 
en  with  his  last  illness,  and  during  this  it  was  sometimes  my 
sad  duty  to  minister  to  his  needs.  I  feel  that,  in  an  assembly 
where  every  heart  throbs  with  sorrow  for  our  departed  chief 
tain,  I  violate  no  confidence  by  adverting  to  a  death-bed 
every  way  worthy  of  the  life  it  ended.  Once  in  the  solemn 
watches  of.  the  night,  when  I  handed  him  the  prescribed 
nourishment,  he  turned  upon  me  a  look  of  friendly  recogni 
tion,  and  then  cast  down  his  eyes  with  such  a  sadness  in 
them,  that  I  can  never  forget  it.  But  he  spoke  not  a  word ; 
and  this  not  because  he  was  unable,  for,  when  he  chose,  he 
did  speak  brief  sentences  with  distinct  enunciation,  but  be- 
23 


354     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

cause,  before  friends  or  family  or  physicians  feared  the  im 
pending  stroke,  lie  saw  the  open  portals  of  death  and  chose 
to  wrap  himself  in  an  unbroken  silence  as  he  went  down  to 
enter  them.  He,  against  whom  no  man  could  charge,  in  a 
long  life,  a  word  that  should  not  have  been  spoken,  chose  to 
leave  the  deeds  of  that  life  to  speak  for  him.  To  me,  this 
wof ul  silence,  this  voiceless  majesty,  was  the  grandest  feat 
ure  of  that  grand  death.  ..." 

The  closing  address  was  made  by  Colonel  R.  E.  "Withers 
(since  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Virginia,  and  United  States 
Senator-elect),  and  was  as  follows : 

"  Mr.  President  and  Comrades :  After  the  gorgeous  of 
ferings,  which,  in  such  rich  profusion,  have  been  laid  in 
votive  heaps  on  the  tomb  of  our  departed  hero,  it  is  perhaps 
but  meet  that  I  should  appear  bearing  the  feeble  tribute  of 
my  love,  and  with  respectful  reverence  place  the  modest 
chaplet  on  the  same  holy  shrine ;  for  I  stand  before  you  the 
representative  of  the  mass  of  officers  and  men  of  his  com 
mand.  It  was  to  have  been  expected  that  the  companions  of 
his  earlier  years,  and  the  friends  of  his  later  manhood — that 
those  endeared  by  the  sweets  of  daily  social  intercourse,  and, 
yet  more,  those  trusted  heroes  who  launched  with  red  right 
hand  the  bolts  of  his  admirable  strategy  upon  the  fore-front 
of  the  enemy — that  these  should  give  utterance  to  feelings 
of  high  appreciation,  of  profound  admiration,  of  reverential 
regard.  But  I  can  lay  claim  to  no  such  enviable  intimacy. 
My  personal  intercourse  with  General  Lee  was  infrequent ; 
yet  I,  in  common  with  every  ragged  and  dust-begrimed 
soldier  who  followed  his  banner,  loved  him  with  deepest 
devotion.  And  why  was  this  the  predominant  sentiment  of 
his  soldiery  ?  The  answer  is  obvious  :  Because  he  loved  his 
men.  His  military  achievements  may  have  been  rivaled, 
possibly  surpassed,  by  other  great  commanders.  Alexander, 
Marlborough,  "Wellington,  Napoleon,  each  and  all  excited 
the  admiration,  enjoyed  the  confidence,  and  aroused  the  en 
thusiasm  of  their  soldiers ;  but  none  of  these  were  loved  aa 
Lee  was  loved. 


MUTUAL  LOVE   OF   LEE  AND  HIS  SOLDIERS.  355 

"  They  considered  their  soldiers  as  mere  machines  pre 
pared  to  perform  a  certain  part  in  the  great  drama  of  the 
battle-field.  They  regarded  not  the  question  of  human  life 
as  a  controlling  element  in  their  calculations ;  with  unmoved 
eye  and  unquickened  pulse,  they  hurled  their  solid  columns 
against  the  very  face  of  destruction,  without  reck  or  care  for 
the  destruction  of  life  involved.  But  General  Lee  never  for 
got  that  his  men  were  fellow-beings  as  well  as  soldiers.  He 
cared  for  them  with  parental  solicitude,  nor  ever  relaxed  in 
his  efforts  to  promote  their  comfort  and  protect  their  lives. 
A  striking  exemplification  of  this  trait  can  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  it  was  his  constant  habit  to  turn  over  to  the  sick 
and  wounded  soldiers  in  the  hospital  such  delicate  viands  as 
the  partiality  of  friends  furnished  for  his  personal  consump 
tion,  preferring  for  himself  the  plain  fare  of  the  camp,  that 
his  sick  soldiers  might  enjoy  the  unwonted  luxuries.  These 
facts  were  well  known  throughout  the  army ;  and  hence  his 
soldiery,  though  often  ragged  and  emaciated,  though  suffer 
ing  from  privations,  and  cold,  and  nakedness,  never  faltered 
in  their  devotion,  or  abated  one  tittle  of  their  love  for  him. 
They  knew  it  was  not  his  fault. 

"  Of  the  indignities  and  injuries  inflicted  on  General  Lee 
and  his  countrymen  it  becomes  us  not  now  to  speak.  I  have 
no  resentful  feelings  toward  those  who  met  us  in  manly  con 
flict,  but  the  atrocities  perpetrated  since  the  war  upon  a  de 
fenseless  people  arouse  such  a  storm  of  passionate  remem 
brance  as  neither  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion  nor  the 
sanctity  of  the  place  will  suffice  to  quell.  I  can  only  raise 
my  eyes  to  Lee's  God,  and  pray  for  grace  to  forgive  as  I 
hope  to  be  forgiven. 

"  The  resolutions  proposed  by  the  committee  meet  with 
my  hearty  approval.  Monumental  rewards  are  but  the  ex 
pression  of  a  nation's  gratitude  for  distinguished  service,  and 
reverence  for  the  mighty  dead.  They  are  not  designed  to  do 
honor  to  the  dead,  but  mark  the  respect  and  love  of  the  liv 
ing;  and  surely  no  one  has  commanded  such  respect  and 


356  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

gratitude,  or  excited  such  love,  as  our  late  commander. 
Whether  the  monument  be  reared  in  Richmond  or  in  Lex 
ington — whether  it  casts  its  shadows  over  the  rushing  waters 
of  the  James,  or  bathes  its  summit  in  the  pure  air  of  the 
mountains,  amid  which  his  parting  spirit  took  its  upward 
flight — it  will  cause  all  who  gaze  upon  it  to  feel  their  hearts 
more  pure,  their  gratitude  more  warm,  their  sense  of  duty 
more  exalted,  and  their  love  of  country  touched  by  a  holier 
name.  But  neither  classic  bust,  nor  monumental  marble, 
nor  lofty  cenotaph,  nor  stately  urn,  nor  enduring  bronze,  nor 
everlasting  granite,  can  add  to  his  glory  in  this  land  he  loved 
so  well — for  here 

4  The  meanest  rill,  the  mightiest  river, 
Roll  mingling  with  his  fame  forever.' " 

The  eloquent  addresses  delivered  at  this  grand  meeting 
were  listened  to  by  the  soldiers  present  with  rapt  attention 
and  mingled  emotions.  Now  they  would  cheer  to  the  echo 
some  fitting  tribute  to  their  great  leader,  and  anon  the  start 
ing  tear  and  deep  emotion  of  these  bronzed  veterans  of  a 
hundred  fields  would  attest  their  deep  grief  at  his  loss.  It 
was  an  occasion  which  none  present  can  ever  forget,  and  well 
expressed  the  sentiments  which  the  soldiers  of  Lee  univei 
sally  cherish  for  their  great  commander. 


CHAPTER  X. 

HIS     DOMESTIC     LIFE. 

IT  will  not  do  to  follow  to  their  homes  or  trace  the  do 
mestic  lives  of  many  of  the  world's  "  heroes."  They  shine 
before  the  public  gaze,  but  are  very  unlovely  in  their  domes 
tic  relations.  IsTot  so  with  this  great  man.  Those  virtues 
which  were  so  admired  by  the  public  were  all  the  more  con 
spicuous  in  the  home  circle,  and  his  private  character  was  as 
stainless  as  it  was  unassailed  by  the  breath  of  slander. 

It  will  be  pleasant  to  read  a  sketch  of  his  family  as  given 
by  himself  in  the  following  letter : 

"  LEXINGTON,  YA.,  November  20,  1865. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIK  :  I  received  by  the  last  mail  your  letter  of 
the  13th  inst.,  inquiring  into  my  family  history. 

"  I  am  a  poor  genealogist,  and  my  family  records  have  been 
destroyed  or  are  beyond  my  reach.  But,  as  you  *  insist '  on  my 
furnishing  the  information  asked  for,  and  desire  it  for  your  '  own 
private  use,'  I  will  endeavor  to  give  you  a  general  account.  I 
am  the  youngest  son  of  Henry  Lee,  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
who  commanded  Lee's  Legion  under  General  Greene  in  the 
Southern  Department  of  the  United  States,  and  was  born  at 
Stratford,  on  the  Potomac,  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia,  the 
19th  of  January,  1807. 

"  My  mother  was  Anne  Hill  Carter,  daughter  of  Mr.  Charles 
Carter,  of  Shirley,  on  James  River.  My  father  was  twice  mar 
ried,  first  to  Miss  Lee,  and  then  to  Miss  Carter.  l  Major  Henrj 


358  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Lee,'  of  the  War  of  1812,  of  whom  you  inquire,  was  the  only 
son  of  the  first  marriage,  and  consequently  my  half-brother. 
*  Charles  Carter  Lee,'  of  whom  you  also  ask,  and  Sidney  Smith 
Lee,  are  my  full  brothers.  I  had  two  sisters,  Mrs.  Anne  R.  Mar 
shall  and  Mrs.  C.  Mildred  Childe,  neither  of  whom  is  living-. 
The  first  left  one  son,  Colonel  Louis  H.  Marshall,  of  the  United 
States  Army,  and  the  second  a  son  and  daughter,  who  reside  in 
Europe.  i  General  Fitzhugh  Lee '  is  the  eldest  son  of  my  sec 
ond  brother,  Sidney  Smith  Lee,  who  has  five  other  sons.  My 
eldest  brother,  Charles  Carter  Lee,  has  also  six  children,  the 
oldest  of  whom,  George,  is  about  eighteen  years  old.  I  have 
three  sons,  Custis,  William  H.  Fitzhugh,  and  Robert,  and  three 
daughters,  Mary,  Agnes,  and  Mildred.  My  father  died  in  1818, 
my  mother  in  1829.  My  grandfather  was  Henry  Lee,  of  Stafford 
County,  Virginia ;  my  great-grandfather  Henry  Lee,  son  of  Rich 
ard  Lee,  who  first  came  from  England  to  America,  and  from 
whom  the  Southern  Lees  are  descended.  Richard  Henry,  Ar 
thur,  and  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee,  of  the  Revolution,  were  cousins 
of  my  father.  '  John  Fitzgerald  Lee,'  whom  you  mention,  is  the 
grandson  of  Richard  Henry  Lee.  I  believe  I  have  answered  all 
your  questions,  and  must  now  express  the  pleasure  I  feel  in 
learning  that  your  ancestors  were  fellow-soldiers  with  mine  in 
the  great  war  of  the  Revolution.  This  hereditary  bond  of  amity 
has  caused  me,  at  the  risk  of  being  tedious,  to  make  to  you  the 
foregoing  family  narrative.  I  am  also  led  by  the  same  and  other 
feelings  to  grieve  with  you  at  the  death  of  your  brave  nephews 
who  fell  in  the  recent  war.  May  their  loss  be  sanctified  to  you 
and  to  their  country  ! 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE." 

An  extract  from  a  review  of  a  recently-published  book 
from  the  graceful  pen  of  the  gifted  author  Paul  H.  Hayne 
may  be  appropriately  inserted  at  this  point : 

"  A  scene  witnessed  by  us  at  Fort  Sumter,  on  a  spring 
afternoon  of  1861,  comes  vividly  back  to  memory.  Lean 
ing  against  a  great  Columbiad  which  occupied  an  upper  tiei 


HIS  DOMESTIC   LIFE.  359 

of  the  fortress,  we  were  engaged  in  watching  the  sunset 
when  voices  and  footsteps  toward  the  right  attracted  our 
notice. 

"  Glancing  round  we  saw  approaching  us  the  then  com 
mander  of  the  fort,  accompanied  by  several  of  his  captains 
and  lieutenants;  and,  in  the  middle  of  the  group,  topping 
the  tallest  by  half  a  head,  was,  perhaps,  the  most  striking  fig 
ure  we  had  ever  encountered,  the  figure  of  a  man  seemingly 
about  fifty-six  or  fifty-eight  years  of  age,  erect  as  a  poplar, 
yet  lithe  and  graceful,  with  broad  shoulders  well  thrown 
back,  a  fine,  justly-proportioned  head  posed  in  unconscious 
dignity,  clear,  deep,  thoughtful  eyes,  and  the  quiet,  daunt 
less  step  of  one  every  inch  the  gentleman  and  soldier. 

"  Had  some  old  English  cathedral  crypt  or  monumental 
stone  in  Westminster  Abbey  been  smitten  by  a  magician's 
wand  and  made  to  yield  up  its  knightly  tenant  restored  to 
his  manly  vigor,  with  a  chivalric  soul  beaming  from  every 
feature,  some  grand  old  crusader  or  '  red-cross '  warrior  who, 
believing  in  a  sacred  creed  and  espousing  a  glorious  principle, 
looked  upon  mere  life  as  nothing  in  the  comparison,  we 
thought  that  thus  would  he  have  appeared,  unchanged  in 
aught  but  costume  and  surroundings !  And  this  superb  sol 
dier,  the  glamour  of  the  antique  days  about  him,  was  no 
other  than  Robert  E.  Lee,  just  commissioned  by  the  Presi 
dent,  after  his  unfortunate  campaign  in  Western  Virginia,  to 
travel  southward  and  examine  the  condition  of  our  coast  for 
tifications  and  seaboard  defenses  in  general.  .  .  . 

"  Few  chapters  in  the  volume  before  us  are  more  interest 
ing  than  the  introductory  chapter  upon  Lee's  ancestry.  He 
was  born,  as  everybody  knows,  on  the  19th  of  January,  1807, 
at  Stratford,  in  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia.  But  the 
splendors  of  his  descent  are  not,  perhaps,  so  universally  ac 
credited.  Of  pure  Norman  blood,  the  long  line  of  the  Lees 
may  be  traced  back  to  a  certain  Launcelot  Lee,  of  Louder, 
in  France,  who  accompanied  William  the  Conqueror  upon 
his  grand  freebooter's  expedition  to  England.  After  liar 


360  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

old's  golden  head  and  brave  standard  had  sunk  forever  at 
Hastings,  Launcelot  was  rewarded  for  his  services  by  an  es 
tate  in  Essex.  From  that  memorable  date  the  name  of  Lee 
occurs  continually  in  English  annals,  and  'always,'  we  are 
told,  '  in  honorable  connection.' 

"There  is  Lionel  Lee,  who  fought  by  Coeur  de  Lion's 
side  in  Palestine,  and  who  for  his  gallantry  at  Acre,  and  in 
other  battles  with  the  infidel,  was,  on  his  return  home,  made 
the  first  Earl  of  Litchfield,  and  presented  by  the  king  with 
the  estate  of  Ditchley ;  subsequently  held,  as  all  the  readers 
of  "Walter  Scott  must  remember,  by  that  indomitable  old 
knight,  Sir  Henry  Lee,  who  figures  so  conspicuously  in 
'  Woodstock.' 

"  Then  comes  Eichard  Lee,  the  period  of  the  unfortunate 
Surrey  and  his  ally  during  that '  wof ul  expedition '  across  the 
Tweed,  into  Scotland.  About  the  same  time,  two  other 
Lees  (whose  Christian  names  are  unknown)  '  so  distinguished 
themselves  as  to  have  their  banners  suspended  in  St.  George's 
Chapel,  Windsor,  with  the  Lee  coat-of-arms  emblazoned 
thereon,'  and  the  '  significant  family  motto,  Non  incautus 
futuri ! ' 

"  Coming  down  to  the  time  of  the  first  Charles,  we  find 
the  Lees  in  Shropshire,  all  stanch  cavaliers.  Then  it  was 
(probably  during  some  lull  in  the  civil  war,  or  when  the  civil 
war  had  closed)  that  the  c  accomplished  '  Kichard  Lee  <  deter 
mined  to  remove  to  the  JSTew  World.'  <  He  was,'  says  Bishop 
Meade,  <  a  man  of  good  stature,  comely  visage,  enterprising 
genius,  sound  head,  vigorous  spirit,  and  most  generous  na 
ture,'  words  we  may  apply  literally  to  the  person  and  charac 
ter  of  his  illustrious  descendant.  With  this  gentleman  the 
noble  stock  of  the  Virginia  Lees  originated. 

"  Henry,  his  fifth  son,  was  a  direct  ancestor  of  our  gen 
eral.  <  He  married  a  Miss  Bland ;  their  third  son  (Henry) 
married  a  Miss  Grymes,'  and  became  the  father  of  the  cele 
brated  cavalry  leader  of  the  old  Ke volution,  popularly  known 
as  <  Light-Horse  Harry.' 


>•  'I 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  361 

"  By  a  second  wife,  Anne  Hill  Carter — an  aristocrat  of 
the  bluest  Virginia  blood — he  was  blessed  with  his  son,  Rob 
ert  E.  Lee,  in  the  glory  of  whose  renown  the  fame  of  the 
family  line  grows  dim,  comparatively,  and  feeble. 

"  Lee's  claims  to  high  descent  having  been  made  clear, 
this  biography  intends  to  narrate  his  experiences  and  portray 
his  character,  rather  in  private  than  in  public  life.  All  of 
us  know  him  as  the  soldier,  but  in  this  little  book  alone  do 
we  meet  the  man  divested,  in  great  measure,  of  the  trappings 
of  office,  the  halo  of  command.  We  learn,  for  the  first  time, 
to  know  him  intimately  in  his  civil,  social,  and  domestic  re 
lations — as  the  citizen,  companion,  friend,  husband,  father, 
the  wise  instructor  of  the  young,  and,  in  one  comprehensive 
phrase,  as  the  Christian  gentleman. 

"  In  all  such  relations  he  appears  to  have  been  perfect. 
"We  scarcely  exaggerate  in  saying  that,  since  the  death  of 
the  last  of  the  Evangelists,  probably  no  mortal  man  has 
passed  through  life,  c  walking  habitually  nearer  to  his  God,' 
in  thought,  conversation,  worship,  sublime  simplicity  of  faith, 
in  action,  whose  watchword  was  duty ;  and  devout  contem 
plation,  soothed  by  the  spirit  and  promises  of  the  Redeeming 
Christ ! 

"  His  virtues,  like  his  religion,  were  of  large,  simple,  an 
tique  mould.  His  soul,  mellowed,  chastened,  ennobled  by 
suffering  gravely  yet  nobly  borne,  had,  as  it  were,  c  a  look 
southward,  and  was  open  to  the  beneficent  noon  of  2sTature ' 
and  Deity ! 

"He  could  no  more  have  stooped  to  a  meanness  than 
he  could  voluntarily  have  committed  moral  suicide!  A 
broad,  unsophisticated,  childlike,  mediaeval  nature  was  his, 
infinitely  uplifted,  gloriously  enlightened  by  modern  cult 
ure,  and  all  the  graces  and  amenities  of  a  true  Christian 
discipleship.  Take  him  all  in  all,  and  he  stands,  morally, 
alone. 

"  Conventional  standards  of  comparison  fail  us  here. 
We  cast  aside  our  petty  rules,  our  ordinary  methods  of  infer- 


362  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

ence,  our  poor  standard  measurements  of  every-day  character, 
our  common  judgments,  too  small  by  far  to  embrace  a  ma 
jestic  personality  like  this." 

Miss  Emily  Y.  Mason,  in  her  "  Popular  Life  of  General 
Lee,"  gives  the  following  account  of  his  early  life :  "  When 
he  was  but  four  years  of  age,  his  father  removed  to  Alexan 
dria,  the  better  to  educate  his  children ;  and  there  are  many 
persons  yet  living  in  that  old  town  who  remember  him  at 
that  early  age.  From  these  sources,  we  are  assured  that  his 
childhood  was  as  remarkable  as  his  manhood  for  the  mod 
esty  and  thoughtfulness  of  his  character,  and  for  the  per 
formance  of  every  duty  which  devolved  upon  him.  The 
family  lived  on  Cameron  Street,  near  the  old  Christ  Church, 
then  on  Orinoco  Street,  and  afterward  in  the  house  known 
as  the  parsonage. 

"  At  this  period,  General  Henry  Lee  was  absent  in  the 
West  Indies,  in  pursuit  of  health,  and,  in  one  of  his  admi 
rable  letters  written  to  his  son  Carter,  then  a  student  at  Cam 
bridge,  he  says:  ' Robert,  who  was  always  good,  will  be 
confirmed  in  his  happy  turn  of  mind  by  his  ever-watchful 
and  affectionate  mother.' 

"  When  eleven  years  of  age,  his  father  died.  From  one 
of  the  family  who  knew  him  best,  we  are  told  that  from  his 
excellent  mother  he  learned  at  this  early  age  to  '  practise  self- 
denial  and  self-control,  as  well  as  the  strictest  economy  in  all 
financial  concerns,'  virtues  which  he  retained  throughout  his 
life. 

u  This  good  mother  was  a  great  invalid  ;  one  of  his  sisters 
was  delicate,  and  many  years  absent  in  Philadelphia,  under 
the  care  of  physicians.  The  oldest  son,  Carter,  was  at 
Cambridge ;  Sidney  Smith  in  the  navy,  and  the  other  sister 
too  young  to  be  of  much  aid  in  household  matters.  So  Rob 
ert  was  the  house-keeper,  carried  the  keys,  attended  to  the 
marketing,  managed  all  of  the  out-door  business,  and  took 
care  of  his  mother's  horses. 

"  At  the  hour  when  the  other  school-boys  went  to  play,  he 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  363 

hurried  home  to  order  his  mother's  drive,  and  would  there 
be  seen  carrying  her  in  his  arms  to  the  carriage,  and  ar 
ranging  her  cushions  with  the  gentleness  of  an  experienced 
nurse.  One  of  his  relatives,  who  was  often  the  companion 
of  these  drives,  still  lives.  She  tells  us  of  the  exertions  he 
would  make  on  these  occasions  to  entertain  and  amuse  his 
mother,  assuring  her,  with  the  gravity  of  an  old  man,  that 
unless  she  was  cheerful  the  drive  would  not  benefit  her. 
When  she  complained  of  cold  or  '  draughts,'  he  would  pull 
from  his  pocket  a  great  jack-knife  and  newspapers,  and  make 
her  laugh  with  his  efforts  to  improvise  curtains,  and  shut  out 
the  intrusive  wind  which  whistled  through  the  crevices  of 
the  old  family  coach. 

"  When  he  left  her  to  go  to  West  Point,  his  mother  was 
heard  to  say  :  ;  How  can  I  live  without  Robert  ?  He  is  both 
son  and  daughter  to  me.' 

"  Years  after,  when  he  came  home  from  West  Point,  he 
found  one  of  the  chief  actors  of  his  childhood's  drama — his 
mother's  old  coachman,  'Nat'  —  ill,  and  threatened  with 
consumption.  He  immediately  took  him  to  the  milder  cli 
mate  of  Georgia,  nursed  him  with  the  tenderness  of  a  son, 
and  secured  him  the  best  medical  advice.  But  the  spring 
time  saw  the  faithful  old  servant  laid  in  the  grave  by  the 
hands  of  his  kind  young  master. 

"  General  Lee  used  to  say  that  he  was  very  fond  of  hunt 
ing  when  a  boy  ;  that  he  would  sometimes  follow  the  hounds 
on  foot  all  day.  This  will  account  for  his  well-developed 
form,  and  for  that  wonderful  strength  which  was  never 
known  to  fail  him  in  all  the  fatigues  and  privations  of  his 
after-life.  .  .  . 

"  Only  last  summer,  when  General  Lee  was  in  Alexandria, 
one  of  the  old  neighbors  found  him  gazing  wistfully  over 
the  palings  of  the  garden  in  which  he  used  to  play.  '  I  am 
looking,'  said  he,  f  to  see  if  the  old  snowball-trees  are  still 
here.  I  should  have  been  sorry  to  miss  them.' 

"  One  of  his  friends  gives  a  remarkable  incident  to  show 


364  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

the  influence  which,  even  at  this  early  <lay,  his  simple  dig 
nity  and  high  sense  of  right  exercised  upon  all  who  came  in 
contact  with  him,  the  old  as  well  as  the  young.  Being  in 
vited  during  a  vacation  to  visit  a  friend  of  his  family  who 
lived  in  the  gay,  rollicking  style  then  but  too  common  in 
old  Yirginia,  he  found  in  his  host  one  of  the  grand  old  gen 
tlemen  of  that  day,  with  every  fascination  of  mind  and 
manner,  who,  though  not  of  dissipated  habits,  led  a  life 
which  the  sterner  sense  of  the  boy  could  not  approve.  The 
old  man  shrunk  before  the  unspoken  rebuke  of  the  youth 
ful  hero.  Coming  to  his  bedside  the  night  before  his  de 
parture,  he  lamented  the  idle  and  useless  life  into  which  he 
had  fallen,  excusing  himself  upon  the  score  of  loneliness, 
and  the  sorrow  which  weighed  upon  him  in  the  loss  of  those 
most  dear.  In  the  most  impressive  manner  he  besought  his 
young  guest  to  be  warned  by  his  example,  prayed  him  to 
cherish  the  good  habits  he  had  already  acquired,  and  prom 
ised  to  listen  to  his  entreaties  that  he  would  change  his 
own  life,  and  thereby  secure  more  entirely  his  respect  and 
affection." 

General  Lee's  recollections  of  his  childhood  home  were 
always  as  vivid  as  they  were  tender  and  pleasant.  To  the 
young  lady  who  made  the  sketch  of  his  birthplace  which  we 
give,  he  wrote  the  following  characteristic  letter  : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  28,  J866. 

"  Miss  MATTIE  WARD,  Care  of  Rev.  Wm.  N.  Ward,  Warsaw  Post-  Office,  Va. 
"  Mr  DEAR  Miss  WARD  :  I  have  just  received  from  Rich 
mond  the  two  photographic  copies  of  your  painting  of  Strat 
ford.  Your  picture  vividly  recalls  scenes  of  my  earliest  recol 
lections  and  happiest  days.  Though  unseen  for  years,  every 
feature  of  the  house  is  familiar  to  me. 

"  I  return  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  pleasure  you  have  given 
me,  and  beg  you  to  accept  my  earnest  wishes  for  your  future 
happiness. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  R  E.  LKE." 


HIS  DOMESTIC   LIFE.  365 

His  first  teacher  was  Mr.  W.  B.  Leary,  an  Irish  gentle 
man,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  fine  scholar  and  an  excellent 
teacher.  There  always  existed  a  warm  friendship  between 
Mr.  Leary  and  his  distinguished  pupil.  After  the  close  of 
the  war  he  came  to  Lexington  on  a  special  visit  to  General 
Lee ;  and  during  his  Southern  tour,  the  spring  before  his 
death,  he  came  a  long  way  to  see  him,  and  they  had  a  most 
pleasant  interview. 

Just  after  his  visit  to  Lexington,  the  general  wrote  his  old 
teacher  the  following  letter  : 

"LEXINGTON,  YA.,  December  15,  1866. 
"  Mr.  WILLIAM  B.  LEAKY. 

"  MY  DEAB  SIK  :  Your  visit  has  recalled  to  me  years  long 
since  passed,  when  I  was  under  your  tuition,  and  received 
daily  your  instruction.  In  parting  from  you,  I  beg  to  express 
the  gratitude  I  have  felt  all  my  life  for  the  affectionate  fidelity 
which  characterized  your  teaching  and  conduct  toward  me. 

"  I  pray  that  the  evening  of  your  days  may  be  blessed  with 
peace  and  tranquillity,  and  that  a  merciful  God  may  guide  and 
protect  you  to  the  end. 

"  Should  any  of  my  friends,  wherever  your  lot  may  be  cast, 
desire  to  know  your  qualifications  as  a  teacher,  I  hope  you  will 
refer  them  to  me  ;  for  of  them  I  can  speak  knowingly  and  from 
experience. 

"  Wishing  you  health,  happiness,  and  prosperity, 

"  I  am  affectionately  your  friend,  R.  E.  LEE." 

Under  Mr.  Leary's  instruction  he  acquired  that  knowl 
edge  of  the  classics  and  fondness  for  them  which  surprised 
some  of  his  friends  who  knew  only  of  his  military  education, 

As  soon  as  it  was  decided  that  he  should  go  to  West 
Point,  he  was  sent  to  the  school  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Hallowell, 
who  was  for  so  many  years  a  famous  teacher  in  Alexandria, 
in  order  to  perfect  himself  in  mathematics.  This  gentleman, 
although  espousing  the  Federal  cause  during  the  war,  always 
spoke  in  enthusiastic  terms  of  his  painstaking,  successful 
pupil. 


366     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Entering  West  Point  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  was  al 
ways  a  great  favorite  among  the  cadets,  although  he  declined 
to  engage  in  their  "pranks,"  and  for  a  good  part  of  the  time 
was  one  of  the  "  cadet  officers,"  and  exercised  a  rigid  dis 
cipline  over  them.  He  was  an  equal  favorite  among  the 
professors  and  officers  of  the  Academy,  and  graduated  second 
in  an  unusually  brilliant  class,  without  having  ever  received 
a  single  demerit. 

Soon  after  his  graduation  he  was  summoned  to  the  bed 
side  of  his  mother,  whom  he  nursed  with  the  tenderest  devo 
tion—administering  all  of  her  medicine  and  nourishment 
with  his  own  hands,  and  faithfully  watching  her  waning 
strength — until  her  summons  came,  and  he  was  deprived  of 
the  affectionate  counsel  of  that  one  to  whom  he  was  accus 
tomed  to  say  he  "  owed  every  thing."  Much  has  been  writ 
ten  of  what  the  world  owes  to  "  Martha,  the  mother  of  Wash 
ington;"  but  it  owes  scarcely  less  to  "Anne,  the  mother 
of  Lee." 

When  a  boy,  he  was  accustomed  to  visit  Arlington,  the 
splendid  estate  of  George  Washington  Parke  Custis  (the 
grandson  of  Mrs.  Washington,  and  the  adopted  son  of  the 
Father  of  his  Country),  and  there  had  as  his  playmate  Mary 
Randolph  Custis.  This  childish  friendship  ripened  into  love, 
and  on  June  30,  1831,  he  led  to  the  altar  this  only  daughter 
of  that  illustrious  house — the  marriage  ceremony  being  per 
formed  by  Kev.  Dr.  Keith,  of  the  Theological  Seminary  near 
Alexandria.  Earely  have  two  more  congenial  spirits  united 
their  fortunes,  or  walked  together  more  lovingly  the  path 
way  of  life.  By  this  marriage  Lieutenant  Lee  became  a 
frequent  resident  at  Arlington,  of  which  Miss  Mason  gives 
the  following  vivid  description :  "  This  fine  mansion  stands 
on  the  Virginia  Heights  opposite  Washington  City,  overlook 
ing  the  Potomac,  and  was  for  many  years  an  object  of  attrac 
tion  to  all  visitors  to  Washington,  on  account  of  its  historical 
associations,  and  the  Washington  relics  collected  and  pre 
served  by  the  patriotic  father  of  Mrs.  Lee.  Here  were  to  be 


HIS   DOMESTIC   LIFE.  367 

seen  the  original  portraits  of  General  and  Mrs.  Washington, 
painted  at  the  time  of  their  marriage,  which  have  been  so 
constantly  reproduced;  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Washington's 
first  husband,  Colonel  Parke  Custis ;  of  many  of  his  pro 
genitors;  and  several  pictures  of  the  great  Revolutionary 
battles,  painted  by  Mr.  Custis,  whose  delight  it  was  to  per 
petuate  upon  canvas  the  features  of  the  great  man  who  had 
been  to  him  a  father,  and  to  commemorate  the  important 
scenes  in  which  he  had  been  an  actor. 

"Here,  also,  was  the  last  original  portrait  of  General 
Washington,  by  Sharpless,  a  distinguished  English  artist,  who 
painted  in  crayons.  Many  of  the  pictures,  and  much  of  the 
old  furniture  of  Mount  Yernon,  were  here :  the  china  pre 
sented  to  Mrs.  Washington  by  certain  English  merchants, 
upon  which  was  her  monogram  ;  that  given  to  General  Wash 
ington  by  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati ;  the  tea-table  at 
which  Mrs.  Washington  always  presided ;  a  bookcase  made 
by  General  Washington's  own  directions  ;  and  the  bed  upon 
which  he  died.  Arlington  House  was  surrounded  by  groves 
of  stately  trees,  except  in  front,  where  the  hill  descended  to 
a  lovely  valley  spreading  away  to  the  river.  The  view  from 
the  height  showed  Washington,  Georgetown,  and  a  long 
stretch  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  foreground,  with  wooded  hills 
and  valleys  making  a  background  of  dark  foliage." 

This  beautiful  home  was  the  happy  abode  of  the  young 
officer  and  his  accomplished  bride  during  such  time  as  he 
could  spare  from  the  active  duties  of  his  profession.  And  as 
the  years  went  on,  Arlington  became  more  attractive  by  the 
sunshine  which  the  presence  of  children  brings. 

The  present  writer  never  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  a  visit 
to  Arlington,  but,  from  what  he  knew  of  the  model  home  in 
Lexington,  is  fully  prepared  to  believe  the  statement  of  others 
that  a  happier  home  circle  never  gathered  around  the  hearth 
stone,  and  that  it  was  at  the  same  time  the  abode  of  a  real 
"  old  Virginia  hospitality,"  rarely  equaled  even  in  the  "  An 
cient  Dominion." 


368     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

But,  while  unable  to  speak  from  personal  observation  of 
this  part  of  General  Lee's  domestic  life,  I  am  indebted  to 
the  kindness  of  the  family  for  some  of  his  letters  which 
beautifully  illustrate  it. 

Under  date  of  October  1C,  1837,  he  thus  writes  from  St. 
Louis  to  his  wife :  "  The  improved  condition  of  the  children, 
which  you  mention,  was  a  source  of  great  comfort  to  me ; 
and  as  I  suppose,  by  this  time,  you  have  all  returned  to  Ar 
lington,  you  will  be  able  to  put  them  under  a  proper  re 
straint,  which  you  were  probably  obliged  to  relax  while  visit 
ing  among  strangers,  and  which  that  indulgence  will  prob 
ably  render  more  essential.     Our  dear  little  boy  seems  to 
have  among  his  friends  the  reputation  of  being  hard  to  man 
age—a  distinction  not  at  all  desirable,  as  it  indicates  self-will 
and  obstinacy.     Perhaps  these  are  qualities  which  he  really 
possesses,  and  he  may  have  a  better  right  to  them  than  I  am 
willing  to  acknowledge ;  but  it  is  our  duty,  if  possible,  to 
counteract  them  and  assist  him  to  bring  them  under  his  con 
trol.     I  have  endeavored,  in  my  intercourse  with  him,  to 
require  nothing  but  what  was  in  my  opinion  necessary  or 
proper,  and  to  explain  to  him  temperately  its  propriety,  at  a 
time  when  he  could  listen  to  my  arguments,  and  not  at  the 
moment  of  his  being  vexed  and  his  little  faculties  warped  by 
passion.     I  have  also  tried  to  show  him  that  I  was  firm  in 
my  demands,  and, constant  in  their  enforcement,  and  that  he 
must  comply  with  them ;  and  I  let  him  see  that  I  look  to 
their  execution,  in  order  to  relieve  him  as  much  as  possible 
from  the  temptation  to  break  them.     Since  my  efforts  have 
been  so  unsuccessful,  I  fear  I  have  altogether  failed  in  ac 
complishing  my  purpose,  but  I  hope  to  be  able  to  profit  by 
my  experience.     You  must  assist  me  in  my  attempts,  and 
we  must  endeavor  to  combine  the  mildness  and  forbearance 
of  the  mother  with  the  sternness  and,  perhaps,  unreason 
ableness  of  the  father.     This  is  a  subject  on  which  I  think 

mu:h,  though  M may  blame  me  for  not  reading  more. 

I  am  ready  to  acknowledge  the  good  advice  contained  in  the 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  369 

text-books,  and  believe  that  I  see  the  merit  of  their  reason 
ing  generally ;  but  what  I  want  to  learn  is  to  apply  what  I 
already  know.  I  pray  God  to  watch  over  and  direct  our  ef 
forts  in  guarding  our  dear  little  son,  that  we  may  bring  him 
up  in  the  way  he  should  go.  ... 

"  .  .  .  .  Oh,  what  pleasure  I  lose  in  being  separated 
from  my  children  !  Nothing  can  compensate  me  for  that ; 
still  I  must  remain  here,  ready  to  perform  what  little  service 
I  can,  and  hope  for  the  best." 

While  on  his  way  to  St.  Louis,  two  years  later,  he  wrote 
Mi's.  Lee  the  following  letter  : 

"  LOUISVILLE,  June  5,  1839. 

"  MY  DEAREST  MARY  :  I  arrived  here  last  night,  and,  before 
going  out  this  morning,  will  inform  you  of  my  well-doing  thus 
far. 

"  After  leaving  Staunton,  I  got  on  very  well,  but  did  not 
reach  Guyandotte  till  Sunday  afternoon,  where,  before  alighting 
from  the  stage,  I  espied  a  boat  descending  the  river,  in  which  I 
took  passage  to  Cincinnati.  .  .  .  You  do  not  know  how  much  I 
have  missed  you  and  the  children,  my  dear  Mary.  To  be  alone  in 
a  crowd  is  very  solitary.  In  the  woods  I  feel  sympathy  with  the 
trees  and  birds,  in  whose  company  I  take  delight,  but  experience 
no  pleasure  in  a  strange  crowd. 

"  I  hope  you  are  all  well  and  will  continue  so,  and  therefore 
must  again  urge  you  to  be  very  prudent  and  careful  of  those 
dear  children.  If  I  could  only  get  a  squeeze  at  that  little  fellow 
turning  up  his  sweet  mouth  to  '  keese  baba  ! '  You  must  not 
let  him  run  wild  in  my  absence,  and  will  have  to  exercise  firm 
authority  over  all  of  them.  This  will  not  require  severity,  or 
even  strictness,  but  constant  attention  and  an  unwavering 
course.  Mildness  and  forbearance,  tempered  by  firmness  and 
judgment,  will  strengthen  their  affection  for  you,  while  it  will 
maintain  your  control  over  them." 

The  following  letter,  to  one  of  his  sons,  well  illustrates 
his  method  of  gaining  the  affectionate  confidence  of  his  chil 
dren : 

24 


370     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"Font  HAMILTON,  NEW  YORK,  March  31,  1846. 

"  I  cannot  go  to  bed,  my  dear  son,  without  writing  you  a 
few  lines  to  thank  you  for  your  letter,  which  gave  me  great 
pleasure.  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  are  well,  and  hope  you  are 
learning  to  read  and  write,  and  that  the  next  letter  you  will  be 
able  to  write  yourself.  I  want  to  see  you  very  much,  and  to  tell 
you  all  that  has  happened  since  you  went  away. 

"  I  do  not  think  I  ever  told  you  of  a  fine  boy  I  heard  of  in 
my  travels  this  winter.  He  lived  in  the  mountains  of  New 
Hampshire.  He  was  just  thirteen  years  old,  the  age  of  Custis. 
His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  he  used  to  assist  him  to  work  on 
the  farm  as  much  as  he  could.  The  snow  there  this  winter  was 
deeper  than  it  has  been  for  years,  and  one  day  he  accompanied 
his  father  to  the  woods  to  get  some  wood.  They  went  with 
their  wood-sled,  and,  after  cutting  a  load  and  loading  the  sled, 
this  little  boy,  whose  name  was  Harry,  drove  it  home  while  his 
father  cut  another  load.  He  had  a  fine  team  of  horses  and  re 
turned  very  quickly,  when  he  found  his  father  lying  prostrate  on 
the  frozen  snow  under  the  large  limb  of  a  tree  he  had  felled  dur 
ing  his  absence,  which  had  caught  him  in  its  fall,  and  thrown  him 
to  the  ground.  He  was  cold  and  stiff;  and  little  Harry,  finding 
that  he  was  not  strong  enough  to  relieve  him  from  his  position, 
seized  his  axe  and  cut  off  the  limb,  and  rolled  it  off  of  him.  He 
then  tried  to  raise  him,  but  his  father  was  dead  and  his  feeble 
efforts  were  all  in  vain.  Although  he  was  out  in  the  far  woods 
by  himself,  and  had  never  before  seen  a  dead  person,  he  was 
nothing  daunted,  but  backed  his  sled  close  up  to  his  father,  and 
with  great  labor  got  his  body  on  it,  and,  placing  his  head  in  his 
lap,  drove  home  to  his  mother  as  fast  as  he  could.  The  efforts 
of  his  mother  to  reanimate  him  were  equally  vain  with  his  own, 
and  the  sorrowing  neighbors  came  and  dug  him  a  grave  under 
the  cold  snow,  and  laid  him  quietly  to  rest.  His  mother  was 
greatly  distressed  at  the  loss  of  her  husband,  but  she  thanked 
God  who  had  given  her  so  good  and  brave  a  son. 

"  You  and  Custis  must  take  great  care  of  your  kind  mother 
and  dear  sisters  when  your  father  is  dead.  To  do  that  you 
must  learn  to  be  good.  Be  true,  kind,  and  generous,  and  pray 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  371 

earnestly  to  God  to  enable  you  to  '  keep  his  commandments,  and 
walk  in  the  same  all  the  days  of  your  life.' 

"  Alec  and  Frank  are  well,  and  the  former  has  begun  to  ride 
his  pony,  Jim,  again.  Captain  Bennett  has  bought  his  little 
boy  a  donkey,  and,  as  I  came  home,  I  met  him  riding  him,  with 
two  large  Newfoundland  dogs  following,  one  on  each  side.  The 
dogs  were  almost  as  large  as  the  donkey.  My  horse  Jerry  did 
not  know  what  to  make  of  them.  I  go  to  New  York,  now,  on 
horseback  every  day ;  one  day  I  ride  Jerry,  and  the  next  Tom, 
and  I  think  they  begin  to  go  better  under  the  saddle  than  for 
merly.  I  hope  to  come  on  soon  to  see  that  little  baby  you  have 
got  to  show  me.  You  must  give  her  a  kiss  for  me,  and  one  to 
all  the  children,  and  to  your  mother  and  grandmother. 

"  Good-by,  my  dear  son. 

"  Your  affectionate  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

A  year  later  lie  wrote  the  following : 

"  SHIP  MASSACHUSETTS,  OFF  LOBOS,  February  27,  1847. 
"MY  DEAR  BOYS:  I  received  your  letters  with  the  greatest 
pleasure,  and,  as  I  always  like  to  talk  to  you  both  together,  I 
will  not  separate  you  in  my  letters,  but  write  one  to  you  both. 
I  was  much  gratified  to  hear  of  your  progress  at  school,  and  hope 
that  you  will  continue  to  advance,  and  that  I  shall  have  the 
happiness  of  finding  you  much  improved  in  all  your  studies  on 
my  return.  I  shall  not  feel  my  long  separation  from  you,  if  I 
find  that  my  absence  has  been  of  no  injury  to  you,  and  that  you 
have  both  grown  in  goodness  and  knowledge,  as  well  as  stature. 
But,  ah  !  how  much  I  will  suffer  on  my  return,  if  the  reverse  has 
occurred  !  You  enter  all  my  thoughts,  into  all  my  prayers ; 
and  on  you,  in  part,  will  depend  whether  I  shall  be  happy  or 
miserable,  as  you  know  how  much  I  love  you.  You  must  do  all 
in  your  power  to  save  me  pain.  You  will  learn,  by  my  letter  to 
your  grandmother,  that  I  have  been  to  Tampico.  I  saw  many 
things  to  remind  me  of  you,  though  that  was  not  necessary  to 
make  me  wish  that  you  were  with  me.  The  river  was  so  calm 
and  beautiful,  and  the  boys  were  playing  about  in  boats,  and 
swimming  their  ponies.  Then  there  were  troops  of  donkeys 


372  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL    ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

carrying  water  through  the  streets.  They  had  a  kind  of  saddle, 
something  like  a  cart-saddle,  though  larger,  that  carried  two  ten- 
gallon  kegs  on  each  side,  which  was  a  load  for  a  donkey.  They 
had  no  bridles  on,  but  would  come  along  in  strings  to  the  river, 
and,  as  soon  as  their  kegs  were  rilled,  start  off  again.  They 
were  fatter  and  sleeker  than  any  donkeys  I  had  ever  seen  before, 
and  seemed  to  be  better  cared  for.  I  saw  a  great  many  ponies, 
too.  They  were  larger  than  those  in  the  upper  country,  but  did 
not  seem  so  enduring.  I  got  one  to  ride  around  the  fortifica 
tions.  He  had  a  Mexican  bit  and  saddle  on,  and  paced  delight 
fully,  but,  every  time  my  sword  struck  him  on  the  flanks,  would 
jump  and  try  to  run  off.  Several  of  them  had  been  broken  to 
harness  by  the  Americans,  and  I  saw  some  teams,  in  wagons, 
driven  four-in-hand,  well  matched  and  trotting  well.  We  had  a 
grand  parade  on  General  Scott's  arrival.  The  troops  were  all 
drawn  up  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  fired  a  salute  as  he 
passed  them.  He  landed  at  the  market,  where  lines  of  sentinels 
were  placed  to  keep  off  the  crowd.  In  front  of  the  landing  the 
artillery  was  drawn  up,  which  received  him  in  the  centre  of  the 
column,  and  escorted  him  through  the  streets  to  his  lodgings. 
They  had  provided  a  handsome  gray  horse,  richly  caparisoned, 
for  him,  but  he  preferred  to  walk,  with  his  staff  around  him,  and 
a  dragoon  led  the  horse  behind  us.  The  windows  along  the 
streets  we  passed  were  crowded  with  people,  and  the  boys  and 
girls  were  in  great  glee,  the  Governor's  Island  band  playing  all 
the  time. 

"  There  were  six  thousand  soldiers  in  Tampico.  Mr.  Barry 
was  the  adjutant  of  the  escort.  I  think  you  would  have  enjoyed 
with  me  the  oranges  and  sweet-potatoes.  Major  Smith  be 
came  so  fond  of  the  chocolate  that  I  could  hardly  get  him  awray 
from  the  house.  We  only  remained  there  one  day.  I  have  a 
nice  state-room  on  board  this  ship;  Joe  Johnston  and  myself 
occupy  it,  but  my  poor  Joe  is  so  sick  all  the  time  I  can  do  noth 
ing  with  him.  I  left  Jem  to  come  on  with  the  horses,  as  1 
was  afraid  they  would  not  be  properly  cared  for.  Vessels  were 
expressly  fitted  up  for  the  horses,  and  parties  of  dragoons  de 
tailed  to  take  care  of  them.  I  had  hoped  they  would  reach  here 
by  this  time,  as  I  wanted  to  see  how  they  were  fixed.  I  took 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  373 

every  precaution  for  their  comfort,  provided  them  with  bran, 
oats,  etc.,  and  had  slings  made  to  pass  under  them  and  attached 
to  the  coverings  above,  so  that,  if  in  the  heavy  sea  they  should 
slip,  or  be  thrown  off  their  feet,  they  could  not  fall.  I  had  to 
sell  my  good  old  horse  Jim,  as  I  could  not  find  room  for  him, 
or,  rather,  I  did  not  want  to  crowd  the  others.  I  know  I  shall 
want  him  when  I  land.  Creole  was  the  admiration  of  every 
one  at  Brazos,  and  they  hardly  believed  she  had  carried  me  so 
far,  and  looked  so  well.  Jem  says  there  is  nothing  like  her  in 
all  the  country,  and  I  believe  he  likes  her  better  than  Torn  or 
Jerry.  The  sorrel  mare  did  not  appear  to  be  so  well  after  I  got 
to  the  Brazos.  I  had  to  put  one  of  the  men  on  her,  whose  horse 
had  given  out,  and  the  saddle  hurt  her  back.  She  had  gotten 
well,  however,  before  I  left,  and  I  told  Jem  to  ride  her  every  day. 
I  hope  they  may  both  reach  the  shore  again  in  safety,  but  I  fear 
they  will  have  a  hard  time.  They  will  first  have  to  be  put 
aboard  a  steamboat  and  carried  to  the  ship  that  lies  about  two 
miles  out  at  sea,  then  hoisted  in,  and  how  we  shall  get  them 
ashore  again,  I  do  not  know.  Probably  throw  "them  overboard, 
and  let  them  swim  there.  I  do  not  think  we  shall  remain  here 
more  than  one  day  longer.  General  Worth's  and  General 
Twiggs's  divisions  have  arrived,  which  include  the  regulars,  and 
I  suppose  the  volunteers  will  be  coming  on  every  day.  We 
shall  probably  go  on  the  1st  down  the  coast,  select  a  place 
for  debarkation,  and  make  all  the  arrangements  preparatory  to 
the  arrival  of  the  troops.  I  shall  have  plenty  to  do  there,  and 
am  anxious  for  the  time  to  come,  and  hope  all  may  be  successful. 
Tell  Rob  he  must  think  of  me  very  often,  be  a  good  boy,  and 
always  love  papa.  Take  care  of  Speck  and  the  colts.  Mr. 
Sedgwick  and  all  the  officers  send  their  love  to  you. 

"The  ship  rolls  so  that  I  can  scarcely  write.  You  must 
write  to  me  very  often.  I  am  always  very  glad  to  hear  from 
you.  Be  sure  that  I  am  thinking  of  you,  and  that  you  have  the 
prayers  of  your  affectionate  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  general  related  a  pleasing  incident  of  one  of  his  boya 
>dth  whom  he  was  walking  out  in  the  snow  one  day,  at  Ar 
lington.  The  little  fellow  lagged  behind,  and,  looking  over 


374  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

his  shoulder,  the  father  saw  him  imitating  his  every  move 
ment,  with  head  and  shoulders  erect,  and  stepping  exactly  in 
his  own  foot-prints.  "  When  I  saw  this,"  said  the  general, 
"  I  said  to  myself,  <  It  behooves  me  to  walk  very  straight,  when 
this  fellow  is  already  following  in  my  tracks.' "  And  accord 
ingly  there  was  never  a  more  circumspect  father  than  was 
this  great  man. 

After  his  brilliant  career  in  Mexico,  he  returned  to  the 
States,  and  found  his  chief  joy  in  the  bosom  of  his  family. 
His  stay  at  West  Point  as  its  superintendent  was  pleasant  on 
account  of  the  opportunity  it  afforded  him  of  seeing  more,  of 
his  family,  and  his  only  regret  at  being  ordered  in  February, 
1856,  to  the  rough  service  of  the  frontier  seems  to  have  been 
the  fact  that  he  would  thus  be  far  distant  from  his  loved 
ones. 

Some  extracts  from  his  letters  written  about  this  period 
have  already  been  given. 

The  following  is  a  pleasing  insight  into  his  feelings  as  he 
thought  of  home  in  his  far-off  field  of  duty : 

"FORT  BROWN,  TEXAS,  December,  1856. 

"  .  .  .  .     The  time  is  approaching,  dear  M ,  when  I  trust 

that  many  of  you  will  be  assembled  around  the  family  hearth  of 
dear  Arlington  to  celebrate  another  Christmas.  Though  absent, 
my  heart  will  be  in  the  midst  of  you.  I  shall  enjoy  in  imagina 
tion  and  memory  all  that  is  going  on.  May  nothing  occur  to 
mar  or  cloud  the  family  fireside,  and  may  all  be  able  to  look 
with  pride  and  pleasure  to  their  deeds  of  the  past  year,  and  with 
confidence  and  hope  to  that  in  prospect!  I  can  do  nothing  but 
love  and  pray  for  you  all." 

The  following  is  the  close  of  a  long  letter  dated  "  Fort 
Brown,  Texas,  December  27,  1856  :  " 

"  I  hope  you  all  had  a  joyous  Christmas  at  Arlington,  and 
that  it  may  be  long  and  often  repeated.  I  thought  of  you,  and 
wished  to  be  with  you.  Mine  was  gratefully  but  silently  passed. 
I  endeavored  to  find  some  presents  for  the  children  in  the  gar- 


HIS  DOMESTIC   LIFE.  375 

rison,  and  succeeded  better  than  I  anticipated.  The  stores 
were  very  barren,  but  by  taking  them  the  week  beforehand  in 

my  daily  walks,  I  picked  up  something  for  all.     Tell  M I 

found  a  beautiful  Dutch  doll  for  little  Emma,  one  of  those  cry 
ing  babies  that  can  open  and  shut  their  eyes ;  for  two  others, 
handsome  French  teapots  to  match  their  cups.  Then  with  knives 
and  books  I  satisfied  the  boys.  After  this,  went  to  church, 
then,  by  previous  invitation,  Major  Thomas  and  I  dined  with 
the  clergyman,  Mr.  Passmore,  on  roast  -  turkey  and  plum-pud 
ding.  God  bless  you  all !  Yours,  R  E.  LEE." 


The  following  shows  that  he  had  a  heart  to  feel  for  the 
afflicted : 

"  CAMP  COOPER,  June  22,  1857. 

"  There  is  little  to  relate.  The  hot  weather  seems  to  have 
set  in  permanently.  The  thermometer  ranges  above  one  hun 
dred  degrees,  but  the  sickness  among  the  men  is  on  the  decrease, 
though  there  has  been  another  death  among  the  children.  He 
was  as  handsome  a  little  boy  as  I  ever  saw — the  son  of  one  of 
our  sergeants,  about  a  year  old;  I  was  admiring  his  appearance 
the  day  before  he  was  taken  ill.  Last  Thursday  his  little  waxen 
form  was  committed  to  the  earth.  His  father  came  to  me,  the 
tears  flowing  down  his  cheeks,  and  asked  me  to  read  the  funeral 
service  over  his  body,  which  I  did  at  the  grave  for  the  second 
time  in  my  life.  I  hope  I  shall  not  be  called  on  again,  for, 
though  I  believe  that  it  is  far  better  for  the  child  to  be  called  by 
its  heavenly  Creator  into  his  presence  in  its  purity  and  inno 
cence,  unpolluted  by  sin,  and  uncontaminated  by  the  vices  of  the 
world,  still  it  so  wrings  a  parent's  heart  with  anguish  that  it  is 
painful  to  see.  Yet  I  know  it  was  done  in  mercy  to  both — 
mercy  to  the  child,  mercy  to  the  parents.  The  former  has  been 
saved  from  sin  and  misery  here,  and  the  latter  have  been  given 
a  touching  appeal  and  powerful  inducement  to  prepare  for 
hereafter.  May  it  prove  effectual,  and  may  they  require  no  fur 
ther  severe  admonition ! 

"  May  God  guard  and  bless  you  all !  Truly  and  affection 
ately  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 


376  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

The  following  was  written  to  one  of  his  sons  soon  after 
he  joined  the  army : 

"  ARLINGTON,  May  30,  1858. 

"  I  received  yesterday  in  Alexandria,  my  dearest  son,  your 
letter  of  the  19th  inst.,  from  « Camp  C.  F.  May.'  1  had  heard  of 
your  departure  from  Governor's  Island,  and  was  very  glad  to 
learn  of  your  safe  arrival  at  your  starting-point,  and  of  your 
assignment  to  the  adjutancy  of  Captain  Heth's  battalion.  You 
are  now  in  a  position  to  acquire  military  credit,  and  to  prepare 
the  road  for  promotion  and  future  advancement.  Show  your 
ability  and  worthiness  of  distinction,  and  if  an  opportunity  offers 
for  advancement  in  the  staff  (I  do  not  refer  to  the  quartermas 
ter's  or  commissary  department),  unless  that  is  not  your  fancy, 
take  it.  It  may  lead  to  something  favorable,  and  you  can  always 
relinquish  it  when  you  choose. 

"  I  hope  you  will  always  be  distinguished  for  your  avoid 
ance  of  the  '  universal  balm,'  whiskey,  and  every  immorality. 
Nor  need  you  fear  to  be  ruled  out  of  the  society  that  indulges 
in  it,  for  you  will  acquire  their  esteem  and  respect,  as  all  ven 
erate  if  they  do  not  practise  virtue.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that 
there  is  great  proclivity  for  spirit  in  the  army  in  the  field.  It 
seems  to  be  considered  a  substitute  for  every  luxury.  The 
great  body  may  not  carry  it  to  extremes,  but  many  pursue  it 
to  their  ruin.  With  some  it  is  used  as  a  means  of  hospital 
ity,  and  your commanding  used  to  value  it  highly  in  this 

way,  and  perhaps  partook  of  it  in  this  spirit.  I  think  it  better 
to  avoid  it  altogether,  as  you  do,  as  its  temperate  use  is  so 
difficult.  I  hope  you  will  make  many  friends,  as  you  will  be 
thrown  with  those  who  deserve  this  feeling,  but  indiscriminate 
intimacies  you  will  find  annoying  and  entangling,  and  they  can 
be  avoided  by  politeness  and  civility.  You  see  I  am  following 
rny  old  habit  of  giving  advice,  which  I  dare  say  you  neither  need 
nor  require.  But  you  must  pardon  a  fault  which  proceeds  from 
my  great  love  and  burning  anxiety  for  your  welfare  and  happi 
ness.  When  I  think  of  your  youth,  impulsiveness,  and  many 
temptations,  your  distance  from  me,  and  the  ease  (and  even  in 
nocence)  with  which  you  might  commence  an  erroneous  course, 
my  heart  quails  within  me,  and  rny  whole  frame  and  being  trem- 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  377 

ble  at  the  possible  result.  May  Almighty  God  have  you  in  His 
holy  keeping !  To  His  merciful  providence  I  commit  you,  and 
will  rely  upon  Him,  and  the  efficacy  of  the  prayers  that  will  be 
daily  and  hourly  offered  up  by  those  who  love  you." 

Then  follow  some  interesting  items  about  army  move 
ments,  family  matters,  etc. 

The  following  is  given  in  full,  as  a  model  family  letter : 

"  ARLINGTON,  August  7,  1858. 

"  I  was  delighted^  my  dear  son,  to  receive  your  letter  of  the 
7th  of  July,  and  to  learn  that  you  were  well,  and  so  contented 
and  happy  in  your  new  life.  I  know  that,  although  there  is 
much  to  weary  and  annoy  in  a  campaign,  there  is  much  to  cheer 
and  excite,  and  I  recognize  in  the  expression  of  your  feelings 
many  of  my  own  experiences.  I  am  sorry  that  my  letters  are 
so  dilatory  in  reaching  you.  They  will  follow  you  in  time,  and, 
I  hope,  lose  no  interest  by  the  way.  You  must  make  allow 
ances  for  your  forward  movement,  as  well  as  the  distance  they 
have  to  overcome.  I  wrote  immediately  on  the  reception  of 
your  letter  from  Leavenworth,  and  your  mother  has  replied  to 
those  to  her  from  the  Blue  and  Platte  Rivers.  As  you  have 
heard  so  regularly  from  C ,  I  hope  you  have  been  com 
pensated  for  the  absence  of  other  letters.  But  what  has  she 
been  saying  to  you,  that  you  talk  of  coming  back  this  winter  to 
be  married  ?  I  thought  that  ceremony  had  been  postponed  for 
two  years  !  However,  if  you  young  people  so  wish  it,  I  suppose 
it  will  have  to  come  off  earlier.  About  that,  you  must  deter 
mine.  You  will  have  heard,  by  this  time,  of  the  destination  of 
your  regiment.  If  it  goes  to  Oregon,  which,  I  think,  is  more 
than  probable,  will  you  be  able  to  leave  it  on  the  route  ?  I 
think  that  will  be  the  difficulty.  After  reaching  Oregon,  and 
the  service  is. accomplished  for  which  the  troops  are  sent  there, 

I  should  think  you  might  get  a  leave  of  absence,  and  take  C 

back  with  you  en  route  to  China,  to  see  the  Celestials.  Would 
that  answer  as  a  wedding-tour  ?  Of  all  this,  you,  being  on  the 
spot,  and  knowing  all  the  circumstances,  will  be  the  better 
judge,  and  must  determine.  I  can  only  hope  and  pray  that  all 


378  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

things  may  work  together  for  the  good  and  happiness  of  you 

both.     I  had  hoped,  before  this,  to  have  seen    C at   the 

Alum  Springs,  and  had  made  my  preparations  to  have  carried 
your  mother  a  fortnight  since,  nolens  volens,  to  the  Hot.  But, 

two  days  before  the  day  fixed  for  our  departure,  Mr.  M was 

taken  sick  with  a  complicated  attack  from  which  he  has  not  yet 
recovered.  He  is  now  better,  but  is  not  yet  able  to  come  out. 
I  hope,  by  Tuesday  next,  10th  inst.,  we  shall  be  off.  I  think 
your  mother  is  very  glad  of  the  detention,  and,  except  on  her 
account  and  the  benefit  that  I  hope  she  will  derive  from  the 
trip,  I  should  be,  too.  I  leave  home  with  great  inconvenience, 
and  shall  have  to  return,  after  depositing  her  there.  Annie 
goes  with  her,  and  I  thought  I  would  take  her  over  to  the 
Alum,  to  see  Charlotte.  The  other  children  do  not  incline  to 

the  Hot.     R ,  who  is  with  us,  begs  that  he  may  not  suffer 

again,  and  Agnes  is  going  on  a  tour  of  her  own  to  Ravensworth, 

Chantilly,  etc.     M ,  you  know,  is  in  B ,  nursing  your  aunt 

Anne.  She  is  well,  and  proposes  going  to  the  Sulphuret  Soda 
with  your  uncle  Carter,  who  is  expected  along  about  this  time. 

"  Your  mother,  I  presume,  has  told  you  of  all  home-news.  I 
will  not,  therefore,  repeat.  I  am  getting  along  as  usual — trying 
to  get  a  little  work  done,  and  to  mend  up  some  things.  I  suc 
ceed  very  badly.  I  am  very  glad,  my  dear  son,  you  are  pro 
gressing  so  well.  I  hope  you  will  prove  yourself  a  capable  sol 
dier,  and  win  golden  opinions  from  the  whole  army.  I  have 
good  accounts  of  you  from  all.  There  is  no  military  news,  and 
the  papers  will  inform  you  of  all  else.  Remember  me  to  all  the 
officers.  Take  care  of  yourself  in  all  respects,  and  think  con 
stantly  of  Your  devoted  father, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 


Under  date  of  January  1,  1859,  he  writes  from  Arling 
ton  the  following  playful  letter  to  his  son  : 

"  A  happy  New-Year  1  and  many  returns  of  the  same  to 
you,  my  precious  Roon !  Ours  has  been  gladdened  by  the 
reception  of  your  letter  of  the  4th  of  December,  from  Presidio 
Barracks.  It  is  the  first  line  that  has  reached  us  since  your 


HIS  DOMESTIC   LIFE.  379 

second  letter  from  Fort  Bridger.  I  am  sorry  you  have  received 
nothing  from  us.  I  have  written  often,  and  by  various  routes, 
and  other  members  of  the  family  have  done  the  same.  Those 
that  are  toiling  over  the  plains,  I  suppose,  will  never  reach  you. 
When  I  first  learned  that  the  Sixth  was  ordered  to  the  Pacific, 
I  sent  some  letters  to  Benicia ;  when  your  letter  arrived  from 
Fort  Bridger,  saying  your  regiment  had  departed  from  Salt  Lake, 
and  that  you  were  called  to  Camp  Floyd,  I  inclosed  some  let 
ters  to  Major  Porter's  care.  After  seeing  that  the  regiment  was 
stopped  at  Carson's  Valley,  and  had  sent  back  for  animals,  I 
conjectured  that  you  would  be  pushed  on  with  your  recruits,  and 
would  labor  through  to  the  Pacific,  and  I  resumed  my  direction 
to  Benicia.  Surely,  some  of  these  latter  should  reach  you.  .  .  . 
But,  now  that  you  have  caught  Custis,  I  hope  you  are  indemni 
fied  for  all  your  privations.  I  am  delighted  at  you  two  being 
together,  and  nothing  has  occurred  so  gratifying  to  me  for  the 
past  year.  Hold  on  to  him  as  long  as  you  can.  Kiss  him  for 
me,  and  sleep  with  him  every  night.  He  must  do  the  same  to 
you,  and  charge  it  all  to  my  account.  God  grant  that  it  could 
be  my  good  fortune  to  be  with  you  both  !  I  am  glad  that  you 
stood  the  march  so  well,  and  are  so  robust  and  bearded.  I  al 
ways  thought  and  said  there  was  stuff  in  you  for  a  good  soldier, 
and  I  trust  you  will  prove  it.  I  cannot  express  the  gratification 
I  felt,  in  meeting  Colonel  May  in  New  York,  at  the  encomiums 
he  passed  upon  your  soldiership,  zeal,  and  devotion  to  your  duty. 
But  I  was  more  pleased  at  the  report  of  your  conduct.  That 
went  nearer  my  heart,  and  was  of  infinite  comfort  to  me.  Hold 
on  to  your  purity  and  virtue.  They  will  proudly  sustain  you  in 
all  trials  and  difficulties,  and  cheer  you  in  every  calamity.  I 
was  sorry  to  see,  from  your  letter  to  your  mother,  that  you 
smoke  occasionally.  It  is  dangerous  to  meddle  with.  You 
have  in  store  so  much  better  employment  for  your  mouth.  Re 
serve  it,  Roon,  for  its  legitimate  pleasure.  Do  not  poison  and 
corrupt  it  with  stale  vapors,  or  tarnish  your  beard  with  their 
Btench.  .  .  . 

"  All  send  love. 

"  Very  truly  and  affectionately,  your  father, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 


380  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

He  thus  begins  a  letter  to  his  son,  dated  "  Arlington, 
New-Year,  1860 : " 

"  I  was  delighted  yesterday,  my  dearest  Fitzhugh,  at  receiv 
ing  your  letter  of  the  28th  ult.,  and  to  my  cordial  congratula 
tions  at  your  prospects  for  the  New- Year,  and  sincere  wishes 
for  many  and  more  gratifying  returns,  will  this  morning  add  my 
heart-felt  gratitude  at  your  joyous  commencement  of  life.  May 
you  and  my  dear  Charlotte  realize  your  highest  anticipations, 
and  experience  the  happiness  of  a  long,  well-spent  life,  and  the 
full  satisfaction  of  the  performance  of  all  your  duties  to  God  and 
man! .  ." 


Then  follows  exceedingly  practical  advice  about  the  best 
methods  of  farming  the  plantation  at  the  White  House. 

The  following  pleasant  letter,  on  a  most  important  family 
event,  will  be  read  with  interest : 

"RiNGGOLD  BARRACKS,  April  2,  1860. 

"  I  was  delighted,  my  dear  son,  at  the  reception  of  your  let 
ter  of  the  10th  ult.,  announcing  the  birth  of  that  anxiously-ex 
pected  little  boy !  I  sincerely  congratulate  you  and  my  darling 
daughter  at  his  prosperous  advent,  and  pray  that  his  future  ca 
reer  may  give  more  happiness  to  his  parents  than  even  his  pres 
ent  existence.  You  must  kiss  his  dear  mother  for  me,  and  offer 
her  my  warmest  thanks  for  this  promising  scion  of  my  scattered 
house,  who  will,  I  hope,  resuscitate  its  name  and  fame.  Tell 
her  I  have  thought  much  of  her,  and  long  to  see  you  both,  and 
your  little  treasure,  who  must,  I  think,  greatly  resemble  his 
papa.  .  .  . 

"  And  now  the  school-house  must  be  commenced,  or  it  will 
not  be  in  time.  I  hope  both  mother  and  child  are  well  and  in 
creasing  daily  in  strength,  so  as  to  enjoy  the  fine  spring  weather 
which  must  have  commenced  in  earnest  by  this  time.  Your 
mamma  must  have  rejoiced  at  another  baby  in  the  house,  and 
have  had  all  her  former  feelings  brought  back  afresh.  I  never 
could  see  the  infantine  beauties  that  she  did,  but  I  will  be  able 
to  appreciate  him  by  the  time  I  shall  see  him.  .  .  . 


HIS  DOMESTIC   LIFE.  381 

In  a  letter  from  San  Antonio,  dated  June  2,  1860,  he 
says: 

"  In  a  letter  to  Charlotte,  written  since  my  return,  I  expressed 
the  gratification  I  felt  at  the  compliment  paid  me  in  your  inten 
tion  to  call  my  first  grandchild  after  me.  I  wish  I  could  offer 
him  a  more  worthy  name  and  a  better  example.  He  must  ele 
vate  the  first,  and  make  use  of  the  latter  to  avoid  the  errors  I 
have  committed.  I  also  expressed  the  thought  that  under  the 
circumstances  you  might  like  to  name  him  after  his  great-grand 
father,  and  wish  you  both,  '  upon  mature  consideration,'  to  fol 
low  your  inclinations  and  judgment.  I  should  love  him  all  the 
same,  and  nothing  could  make  me  love  you  two  more  than  I 
do.  ..." 

In  a  long  and  eminently  common-sense  letter  written  his 
son,  under  date  of  August  22,  1860,  he  says : 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  that  your  mechanics  are  all  paid  off, 
and  that  you  have  managed  your  funds  so  well  as  to  have 
enough  for  your  purposes.  As  you  have  commenced,  I  hope 
you  will  continue,  never  to  exceed  your  means.  It  will  save  you 
much  anxiety  and  mortification,  and  enable  you  to  maintain 
your  independence  of  character  and  feeling.  It  is  easier  to 
make  our  wishes  conform  to  our  means  than  to  make  our  means 
conform  to  our  wishes.  In  fact,  we  want  but  little.  Our  hap 
piness  depends  upon  our  independence,  the  success  of  our  oper 
ations,  prosperity  of  our  plans,  health,  contentment,  and  the 
esteem  of  our  friends.  All  of  which,  my  dear  son,  I  hope  you 
may  enjoy  to  the  full.  ..." 

He  thus  begins  the  letter  from  wiiicli  a  quotation  is  made 
in  a  previous  chapter : 

"FORT  MASON,  SAN  ANTONIO  POST-OFFICE,  January  29,  1861. 
"  MY  DEAR  SON  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  6th  in 
stant,  giving  me  the  pleasing  account  of  your  quiet  and  happy 

Christmas,  the  presence  of  Rob,  the  visit  of  Mr.  D ,  and  the 

christening  of  your  boy.     So  he  is  called  after  his  grandpapa, 


382  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

the  dear  little  fellow ;  I  would  wish  him  a  better  name,  and  hope 
he  may  be  a  wiser  and  more  useful  man  than  his  namesake. 
Such  as  it  is,  however,  I  gladly  place  it  in  his  keeping,  and  feel 
that  he  must  be  very  little  like  his  father  if  it  is  not  elevated 
and  ennobled  by  his  bearing  and  course  in  life.  You  must  teach 
him,  then,  to  love  his  grandpapa,  to  bear  with  his  failings,  and 
avoid  his  errors,  to  be  to  you  as  you  have  been  to  me,  and  he 
may  then  enjoy  the  love  and  confidence  of  his  father,  which  I  feel 
for  you,  greater  than  which  no  son  has  ever  possessed.  But 
what  is  the  matter  with  my  precious  Chass  ?  I  fear  her  house  is 
not  warm  enough  for  her  in  this  cold  and  snowy  weather.  She 
must  be  very  careful  not  to  take  cold,  but  to  go  out  every  day. 
Tell  her  I  want  to  see  her  very  much,  and  love  her  more  and 


These  family  letters  show  that  a  happier  home  circle 
could  not  be  found  than  that  of  tbis  loving  family,  when 
the  storm  of  war  burst  upon  tbe  peaceful  abode  of  Arling 
ton.  It  was  a  bitter  trial  for  General  Lee,  as  it  was  for  each 
member  of  bis  family,  to  sunder  these  ties,  and  give  up  this 
happy  borne ;  and  yet,  when  his  loved  Virginia  called,  he  did 
•not  hesitate  to  lay  on  her  altar  Arlington  with  all  its  hal 
lowed  associations,  and  to  go  forth  an  exile  forever  from  the 
dear  old  roof -tree. 

His  three  sons  promptly  followed  him  into  the  Con 
federate  army,  and  bis  noble  wife  and  accomplished  daugh 
ters  bade  a  sad  farewell  to  Arlington  just  before  the  "  Grand 
Army"  crossed  the  Potomac,  and  occupied  its  beautiful 
groves  as  their  first  camping-ground  on  the  soil  of  Virginia. 

It  was,  perhaps,  not  intended  then;  but,  as  the  fierce 
struggle  went  on,  this  beautiful  home  was  desolated,  its 
groves  were  cut  down,  its  furniture  was  carried  off,  its  pre 
cious  relics  of  Washington  (the  great  "  rebel "  of  1770)  were 
scattered  all  over  the  North,  the  estate  seized  and  held  by  the 
United  States  Government  (under  the  form  of  a  bogus  "  tax 
sale "),  the  grounds  converted  into  a  soldiers'  cemetery,  and 
the  rightful  heirs  banished  from  their  ancestral  halls.  (May 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  383 

tlie  day  be  not  far  distant  when  this  blot  upon  the  American 
name  shall  be  removed,  at  least  so  far  as  to  pay  the  lawful 
heir  who  yet  survives  a  just  compensation  for  the  property 
thus  wrested  from  him  !) 

General  Lee's  family  sought  refuge  at  "  the  White  House  " 
on  the  Pamunkey,  where  Washington  had  married  the 
"  Widow  Custis,"  and  which  had  been  bequeathed  by  G.  W. 
P.  Custis  to  the  "second  son"  of  Lieutenant  Lee's  marriage 
with  his  daughter. 

But  when  General  McClellan  advanced  up  the  Penin 
sula,  in  the  spring  of  1862,  the  family  became  refugees 
again. 

Before  leaving  the  last  homestead  which  remained  to 
her,  Mrs.  Lee  wrote  and  affixed  to  the  door  of  the  house  the 
following  appeal : 

"Northern  soldiers  who  profess  to  reverence  Washington, 
forbear  to  desecrate  the  home  of  his  first  married  life,  the  prop 
erty  of  his  wife,  now  owned  by  her  descendants. 

"A  GRANDDAUGHTER  OF  MRS.  WASHINGTON." 

One  of  McClellan's  officers  wrote  beneath  this:  "A 
Northern  officer  has  protected  your  property  in  sight  of  the 
enemy,  and  at  the  request  of  your  overseer." 

But,  unfortunately,  the  "protection"  did  not  last  long, 
and,  during  McCHellan's  famous  "  change  of  base,"  the  house 
was  burned  to  the  ground,  and  "  not  a  blade  of  grass  left  to 
mark  the  culture  of  more  than  a  hundred  years." 

The  letters  written  by  General  Lee  to  his  family,  during 
the  war,  would  of  themselves  form  a  volume  of  interest.  I 
am  fortunate  in  being  able  to  present  a  number  of  them — 
regretting  that  want  of  space  prevents  the  insertion  of  many 
more : 

"SEWELL  MOUNT,  October  12,  1861. 

"Mr  DEAR  FITZHUGH:  I  am  grieving  over  your  absence, 
and  fear  you  are  not  comfortable.  Tell  me  how  you  are.  I  learn 
that  the  baby  is  doing  very  well  and  getting  quite  fat.  Your 


384  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

poor  mother,  who  was  in  Charlottesville  Saturday,  was  going  to 

Richmond  to  join  C and  accompany  her  to  the  White  House. 

I  hope  they  will  enjoy  the  quiet  of  the  place,  and  each  other's 
company.  Annie  and  Agnes  are  in  Richmond,  on  their  way  to 
Cedar  Grove.  They  have  been  to  Uncle  Carter's,  and  are  well 
satisfied  with  their  visit. 

"  The  enemy  in  strong  force  threatened  us  for  a  week.  I  was 
in  hopes  they  would  attack,  but  after  some  sharp  skirmishing 
with  their  reconnoitring-parties  last  Saturday  night  they  retired, 
and  by  daybreak  next  morning  their  rear -guard  was  fifteen 
miles  off.  We  followed  the  first  day  without  provisions,  and 
had  to  return  at  night  in  a  drenching  rain.  We  have  only  lived 
from  day  to  day,  and  on  three-fourths  rations  at  that.  It  is  the 
want  of  supplies  that  has  prevented  our  advancing,  and  up  to 
this  time  there  is  no  improvement.  The  strength  of  the  enemy 
is  variously  reported,  by  prisoners  and  civilians,  as  from  seven 
teen  to  twenty-four  thousand.  General  Floyd  puts  them  down 
at  eighteen  thousand.  I  think  their  numbers  are  much  over 
rated,  but  that  they  are  much  stronger  than  we  are.  I  believe 
they  have  crossed  the  Gauley,  and  will  not  return  this  winter. 
"  God  bless  you,  my  dear  son  ! 

"  Your  devoted  father,          R  E.  LEE." 

The  following  was  written  just  after  the  first  Manassas : 

"RICHMOND,  July  27,  1861. 

"  I  have  received,  dear  M ,  your  letter  from  E—  -  View 

and  am  glad  your  visit  has  been  so  agreeable.  .  .  .  That  indeed 
was  a  glorious  victory,  and  has  lightened  the  pressure  upon  our 
front  amazingly.  Do  not  grieve  for  the  brave  dead.  Sorrow 
for  those  they  left  behind,  friends,  relations,  and  families.  The 
former  are  at  rest,  the  latter  must  suffer.  The  battle  will  be  re 
peated  there  in  greater  force.  I  hope  God  will  again  smile  upon 
us,  and  strengthen  our  hearts  and  arms. 

"  I  wished  to  participate  in  the  former  battle,  but  the  Presi 
dent  thought  it  more  important  that  I  should  be  here.  I  could 
not  have  done  as  well,  but  could  have  helped,  and  taken  part 
in  the  struggle  for  my  home  and  neighborhood.  So  the  work 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  385 

is  done,  I  care  not  by  whom  it  is  done.  I  leave  to-morrow  for 
the  new  army. 

"  I  wished  to  go  before,  as  I  wrote  you,  and  was  all  prepared, 
but  the  indications  were  so  evident  of  the  coming  battle  that,  in 
the  uncertainty  of  the  result,  the  President  forbade  my  departure. 
Now  it  is  necessary,  and  he  consents.  I  inclose  a  letter  from 

M .      Write  to  her  if  you  can,  and  thank  her,  for  I  have  not 

time.  Every  moment  is  occupied,  and  all  my  thoughts  and 
strength  are  given  to  the  cause  to  which  my  life,  be  it  long  or 
short,  will  be  devoted." 

The  following  was  written  while  he  was  on  duty  on  the 
coast  of  South  Carolina,  and  is  indeed  a  gem  worth  preserv 
ing: 

"  COOSAWHATCHIE,  S.  C.,  December  25,  1861. 

"MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER:  Having  distributed  such  poor  Christ 
mas  gifts  as  I  had  to  those  around  me,  I  have  been  looking  for 
something  for  you.  Trifles  even  are  hard  to  get  these  war-times, 
and  you  must  not  therefore  expect  more.  I  have  sent  you  what 
I  thought  most  useful  in  your  separation  from  me,  and  hope  it 
will  be  of  some  service.  Though  stigmatized  as  '  vile  dross,'  it 
has  never  been  a  drug  with  me.  That  you  may  never  want  for 
it,  restrict  your  wants  to  your  necessities.  Yet  how  little  will  it 
purchase  !  But  see  how  God  provides  for  our  pleasure  in  every 
way.  To  compensate  for  such  '  trash,'  I  send  you  some  sweet 
violets,  that  I  gathered  for  you  this  morning  while  covered  with 
dense  white  frost,  whose  crystals  glittered  in  the  bright  sun  like 
diamonds,  and  formed  a  brooch  of  rare  beauty  and  sweetness 
which  could  not  be  fabricated  by  the  expenditure  of  a  world  of 
money.  May  God  guard  and  preserve  you  for  me,  my  dear 
daughter !  Among  the  calamities  of  war,  the  hardest  to  bear, 
perhaps,  is  the  separation  of  families  and  friends.  Yet  all  must 
be  endured  to  accomplish  our  independence,  and  maintain  our  self- 
government.  In  my  absence  from  you,  I  have  thought  of  you 
very  often,  and  regretted  I  could  do  nothing  for  your  comfort. 
Your  old  home,  if  not  destroyed  by  our  enemies,  has  been  so 
desecrated  that  I  cannot  bear  to  think  of  it.  I  should  have  pre 
ferred  it  to  have  been  wiped  from  the  earth,  its  beautiful  hill 
25 


386  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

sunk,  and  its  sacred  trees  buried,  rather  than  to  have  been  de 
graded  by  the  presence  of  those  who  revel  in  the  ill  they  do  for 
their  own  selfish  purposes.  You  see  what  a  poor  sinner  I  am, 
and  how  unworthy  to  possess  what  was  given  me;  for  that 
reason  it  has  been  taken  away.  I  pray  for  a  better  spirit,  and 
that  the  hearts  of  our  enemies  may  be  changed.  In  your  home 
less  condition,  I  hope  you  make  yourself  contented  and  useful. 
Occupy  yourself  in  aiding  those  more  helpless  than  yourself.  .  .  . 
Think  always  of  your  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

If  any  apology  is  needed  for  unveiling  to  the  public  gaze 
the  following  letter  (and  others  addressed  to  the  same  person 
that  will  be  afterward  given),  it  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  affectionate,  playful  nature  of  the  great  man  is  thus  more 
beautifully  brought  out  than  in  any  other  way,  and  a  chief 
objection  to  the  publication  is,  alas  !  removed  in  the  untimely 
death  of  the  accomplished  woman  to  whom  it  was  addressed  : 

"  COOSAVTHATCHIE,  S.  C.,  December  29,  1861. 

"  You  have  no  occasion  to  inform  me,  you  precious  Chass, 
that  you  have  not  written  to  me  for  a  long  time.  That  I  already 
knew,  and  you  know  that  the  letters  I  am  obliged  to  write  do 
not  prevent  my  reading  letters  from  you. 

"  If  it  requires  fits  of  indignation  to  cause  you  to  ventilate 
your  paper,  I  will  give  occasion  for  a  series  of  spasms,  but  in  the 
present  case  I  am  innocent,  as  my  proposition  was  for  you  to 
accompany  your  mamma  to  Fayetteville,  and  not  to  run  off  with 
her  son  to  Fredericksburg.  I  am  afraid  the  enemy  will  catch 
you  ;  and,  besides,  there  are  too  many  young  men  there.  I  only 
want  you  to  visit  the  old  men,  your  grandpapa  and  papa.  But 
what  has  got  into  your  heads  to  cause  you  to  cut  off  of  them 
your  hair?  If  you  will  weave  some  delicate  fabrics  for  the  sol 
diers  of  the  family  out  of  it,  I  will  be  content  with  the  sacrifice  ; 
or,  if  it  is  an  expression  of  a  penitential  mood  that  has  come 
over  you  young  women,  I  shall  not  complain.  Poor  little  A  -  ! 
Somebody  told  me  that  a  widower  had  been  making  sweet 


at  her  through  his   spectacles.     Perhaps  she  is  preparing  for 
caps.     But  you  can  tell  her  not  to  distress  herself.     Her  papa  is 


HIS   DOMESTIC   LIFE.  387 

not  going  to  give  her  up  in  tliat  way.  1  am,  however,  sc  glad 
that  you  are  all  together  that  I  am  \villing  you  should  indulge 
in  some  extravagances  if  they  do  not  result  in  serious  hurt,  as 
they  will  afford  a  variety  to  the  grave  occupation  of  knitting, 
sewing,  spinning,  and  weaving.  You  will  have  to  get  out  the 
old  wheels  and  looms  again,  else  I  do  not  know  where  we  poor 
Confederates  will  get  clothes.  I  have  a  plenty  of  old  ones  for 
the  present,  but  how  are  they  to  be  renewed  ?  And  that  is  the 
condition  of  many  others.  I  do  not  think  there  are  manufacto 
ries  sufficient  in  the  Confederacy  to  supply  the  demand;  and, as 
the  men  are  all  engrossed  by  the  war,  the  women  will  have  to 
engage  in  the  business.  Fayetteville  or  Stratford  would  be  a 
fine  position  for  a  domestic  manufactory.  When  you  go  to  see 
your  grandpa,  consult  him  about  it.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  he 
is  well,  and  hope  he  will  not  let  these  disjointed  times  put  him 
out  of  his  usual  way  or  give  him  inconvenience.  I  would  not 
advise  him  to  commence  building  at  Broadneck  until  he  sees 
whether  the  enemy  can  be  driven  from  the  land,  as  they  have  a 
great  fondness  for  destroying  residences  when  they  can  do  it 
without  danger  to  themselves.  ...  Do  not  let  them  get  that 
precious  baby,  as  he  is  so  sweet  that  they  would  be  sure  to  eat 

him.  .  .  .  Kiss  F for  me  and  the  baby.    That  is  the  sweetest 

Christmas-gift  I  can  send  them.  I  send  you  some  sweet  violets ; 
I  hope  they  may  retain  their  fragrance  till  you  receive  them.  I 
have  just  gathered  them  for  you.  The  sun  has  set,  and  my  eyes 
plead  for  relief,  for  they  have  had  no  rest  this  holy  day.  But 
my  heart  with  all  its  strength  stretches  toward  you,  and  those 
with  you,  and  hushes  in  silence  its  yearnings.  God  bless  you, 
my  daughter,  your  dear  husband,  and  son !  Give  much  love  to 
your  mamma,  and  may  every  blessing  attend  you  all,  prays 
"  Your  devoted  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

In  a  letter  to  one  of  his  sons,  under  date  of  February  16, 
1861,  lie  says : 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  well,  and  that  you 
have  attained  such  a  high  position  by  your  own  merit.  I  hope 
you  will  strive  hard  to  show  that  you  deserve  it,  and  that  3*011 


388  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.    LEE. 

will  go  on  increasing  in  honor  and  usefulness.  Our  country  re 
quires  now  every  one  to  put  forth  all  his  ability  regardless  of 
self,  and  I  am  cheered  in  my  downward  path  in  life  by  the  on 
ward  and  rising  course  of  my  dear  sons." 

The  following  playful  letter  was  written  to  one  of  his 
daughters  on  her  attaining  her  sixteenth  birthday : 

"SAVANNAH,  February  26,  1862. 

"  And  are  you  really  sweet  sixteen  ?  That  is  charming,  and 
I  want  to  see  you  more  than  ever.  But,  when  that  will  be,  my 
darling  child,  I  have  no  idea.  I  hope,  after  the  war  is  over,  we 
may  again  all  be  united,  and  I  may  have  some  pleasant  years 
with  my  dear  children,  that  they  may  cheer  the  remnant  of  my 
days.  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  progressing  so  well 
in  your  studies,  and  that  your  reports  are  so  favorable.  Your 
mother  wrote  me  about  them.  You  must  continue  to  do  like 
wise  to  the  end  of  the  session,  when  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to 
join  your  mother.  It  has  been  a  long  time  since  I  have  seen 
you,  and  you  must  have  grown  a  great  deal.  Rob  says  he  is 
told  that  you  are  a  young  woman.  I  have  grown  so  old,  and 
become  so  changed,  that  you  would  not  know  me.  But  I  love 
you  just  as  much  as  ever,  and  you  know  how  great  a  love  that 

is.  You  must  remember  me  to  the  P s,  your  cousin  M , 

Mrs.  B ,  the  C s,  etc.,  and  tell  them  how  obliged  I  am 

for  their  kindness  to  you.  I  hope  you  appreciate  it,  and  that 
your  manners  and  conduct  are  so  well  regulated  as  to  make  your 
presence  and  company  agreeable  to  them. 

"  I  hope  you  will  be  admired  and  loved  by  all  my  friends, 
and  acquire  the  friendship  of  all  the  good  and  virtuous. 

"  I  am  glad  S agrees  with  you  so  well.  You  know  it  is 

considered  vulgar  for  young  ladies  to  eat,  which  I  suppose  is 
the  cause  of  your  abstinence.  But  do  not  carry  it  too  far,  for, 
you  know,  I  do  not  admire  young  women  who  are  too  thin. 

"  Who  is  so  imprudent  in  Clarke  as  to  get  married  ?  I  did 
not  think,  in  these  days  of  serious  occurrences,  that  any  one 
would  engage  in  such  trivial  amusements. 

"  This  is  a  serious  period,  indeed,  and  the  time  looks  dark ; 


HIS   DOMESTIC   LIFE.  389 

but  it  will  brighten  again,  and  I  hope  a  kind  Providence  will 
yet  smile  upon  us,  and  give  us  freedom  and  independence. 

"  These  reverses  were  necessary,  to  make  us  brace  ourselves 
for  the  work  before  us.  We  were  getting  careless  and  confi 
dent,  and  required  correction.  You  must  do  all  you  can  for  our 
dear  country.  Pray  for  the  aid  of  our  dear  Father  in  heaven, 
for  our  suffering  soldiers  and  their  distressed  families.  I  pray 
day  and  night  for  you.  May  Almighty  God  guide5  guard,  and 
protect  you  !  I  have  but  little  time  to  write,  my  dear  daughter. 
You  must  excuse  my  short  and  dull  letters.  Write  me  when 
you  can,  and  love  always  your  devoted  father, 

"R  E.  LEE." 

No  apology  is  needed  for  the  introduction  of  the  follow 
ing  letters.  The  publication  of  these  expressions  of  his 
warm  paternal  affection  (which  has  doubtless  been  purified 
and  intensified  in  the  brighter  home  above)  will  be  par 
doned  in  view  of  the  light  thus  thrown  on  the  character  of 
the  great  soldier  who,  amid  the  stern  realities  and  pressing 
duties  of  war,  found  time  and  inclination  for  family  letters, 
of  which  these  are  but  a  few  specimens  : 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  April  26,  1862. 

"  I  have  just  received  your  note  of  Thursday  night,  dearest 
Chass,  and  write  to  say  that  I  have  taken  time  to  read  it  and 
enjoy  it,  too,  and  shall  always  do  so  as  long  as  1  live.  So  do 
not  hesitate  to  write.  I  want  to  see  you  very  much,  and  am 
always  thinking  of  you.  It  is  very  hard,  I  think,  for  you  to  say 

that  you  did  not  want  to  come  to  me.  I  hope,  at  least,  F 

will  be  able  to  go  to  you,  and,  if  he  does,  you  must  tell  him  to 
kiss  you  for  me,  double  and  treble.  Do  not  accuse  your  mamma ; 
you  told  me  yourself.  You  are  such  a  little  sieve,  you  cannot 
retain  any  thing.  But  there  is  no  harm,  you  sweet  child,  and  I 
love  you  all  the  more  for  it,  and  so  does  F *-. 

"  I  am  glad  you  get  such  delightful  tidings  of  him.  C 

left  him  yesterday,  very  indignant  at  some  of  his  pickets  having 
been  captured.  I  hope  he  will  get  them  back,  and  indemnify 
himself  with  many  of  the  enemy.  He  is  very  well,  but  sent  no 


390  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LKE. 

particular  messages.  I  am  glad  you  rejoice  in  the  good  service 
he  is  doing  his  country.  Encourage  him  to  continue  to  the  end. 
We  have  received  some  heavy  blows  lately,  from  the  effects  of 
which,  I  trust,  a  merciful  God  will  deliver  us.  I  fear  New 
Orleans  has  fallen,  though  nothing  certain  has  yet  been  received. 
The  last  accounts  received  prepare  me  for  its  fall.  Remember 
me  to  your  grandpapa  and  all,  at  Hickory  Hill.  Kiss  my  grand 
son  for  me,  and  tell  him  you  are  mistaken.  I  want  to  do  so  for 
myself  very  much,  but  do  not  know  when  I  can  have  that  pleas 
ure.  I  must  confess  that  I  desire  more  to  kiss  his  mother ;  but 

I  catch  that  from  F .     Good-by,  my  sweet  daughter.     May 

Heaven  guard  and  protect  you  and  yours,  prays 

"  Your  affectionate  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  NEAR  RICHMOND,  VA.,  June  2,  1862. 

"  You  may  have  heard  that  a  battle  has  been  fought  near 
Richmond,  my  darling  Chass,  and  be  uneasy  about  your  hus 
band.     I  write,  therefore,  to  inform  you  that  he  is  well.     The 
cavalry  was  not  engaged,  and,  of  course,  he  was  not  exposed. 
...  I  am   sorry  to  say  that  General  Johnston   was  wounded 
Saturday  evening,  not  seriously,  I  am  told ;    but,  when  I  left 
Richmond  yesterday,  the  extent  of  his  wound  was  not  known. 
...  I  am  now  in  the  field   again.      The  wound   of  General 
Johnston  obliging  him  to  leave  it,  rendered   it  necessary,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  President,  that  I  should  take  his  place.     I 
wish  his  mantle  had  fallen  upon  an  abler  man,  or  that  I  were 
able  to  drive  our  enemies  back  to  their  homes.     I  have  no  am 
bition  and  no  desire  but  for  the  attainment  of  this  object,  and 
therefore  only  wish  for  its  accomplishment  by  him  that  can  do 
it  most  speedily  and  thoroughly.     I  saw  F—  -  Friday.     Was  at 
his  camp.  ...  He  is  well,  and  so  are  Shiloh,  Moses,  etc.     I  told 
him  about  you,  and  gave  him  your  address.     He  said  he  would 
write.     I   hear  nothing  of  your   poor  mamma,  or  the   White 
House.     Kiss  Agnes  for  me ;  also,  your  fine  boy.     I  wrote  to 
both  of  you  some  days  since — but  I  can  do  nothing  but  think  of 
you.     God  bless  you  both  and  all,  and  keep  you  for  Himself 
now  and  forever !  Your  affectionate  father, 

"  Mrs.  CHARLOTTE  LKE.  R.  E.  LEE/' 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  391 

"  DABB'S,  June  22,  1862. 

"  I  must  take  a  part  of  this  holy  day,  my  dearest  Chass,  to 
thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  14th.  I  am  very  glad  that  my 
communication  after  the  battle  reached  you  so  opportunely,  and 

relieved  your  anxiety  about  your  F .     He  has,  since  that, 

made  a  hazardous  scout,  and  been  protected  by  that  Divine 
Providence  which,  I  trust  and  pray,  may  always  smile  on,  as  I 
know  it  will  ever  watch  over,  you  and  yours.  I  sent  you  some 
account  of  this  expedition  in  a  former  letter,  as  well  as  the  order 
of  General  Stuart  on  the  subject.  It  was  badly  printed,  but 
many  serve  to  show  you  that  he  conducted  himself  well.  The 
general  deals  in  the  flowery  style,  as  you  will  perceive,  if  you 
ever  see  his  report  in  detail ;  but  he  is  a  good  soldier,  and  speaks 
highly  of  the  conduct  of  the  two  Lees,  who,  as  far  as  I  can  learn, 
deserve  his  encomiums.  Your  mamma  is  very  zealous  in  her 
attentions  to  your  sick  brother.  He  is  reported  better.  I  think 
he  was  a  few  evenings  since,  when  I  saw  him,  and  a  note  this 
morning  from  her  states  that  he  slowly  improves.  I  hope  he 
will  soon  be  well  again.  He  is  much  reduced,  and  looks  very 
feeble.  I  suppose  he  will  be  obliged  to  go  to  the  '  North  Caro 
lina  White  Sulphur,'  to  keep  you  young  women  company.  How 
will  you  like  that  ?  And  now  I  must  answer  your  inquiries 
about  myself.  My  habiliments  are  not  as  comfortable  as  yours, 
nor  so  suited  to  this  hot  weather;  but  they  are  the  best  I  have. 
My  coat  is  of  gray,  of  the  regulation  style  and  pattern,  and  my 
pants  of  dark  blue,  as  is  also  prescribed,  partly  hid  by  my  long 
boots.  I  have  the  same  handsome  hat  which  surmounts  my 
gray  head  (the  latter  is  not  prescribed  in  the  regulations),  and 
shields  my  ugly  face,  which  is  masked  by  a  white  beard  as  stiff 
and  wiry  as  the  teeth  of  a  card.  In  fact,  an  uglier  person  you 
have  never  seen,  and  so  unattractive  is  it  to  our  enemies  that 
they  shoot  at  it  whenever  visible  to  them.  But,  though  age 
with  its  snow  has  whitened  my  head,  and  its  frosts  have  stiff 
ened  my  limbs,  my  heart,  you  well  know,  is  not  frozen  to  you, 
and  summer  returns  when  I  see  you.  Having  now  answered 
your  questions,  I  have  little  more  to  say.  Our  enemy  is  quietlj 
working  within  his  lines,  and  collecting  additional  forces  to  drive 
us  from  our  capital.  I  hope  we  shall  be  able  yet  to  disappoint 


392  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

him,  and  drive  him  back  to  his  own  country.     I  saw  F the 

other  day.     He  was  looking  very  well  in  a  new  suit  of  gray 

"And  now  I  must  bid  you  farewell.     Kiss  your  sweet  boy 
for  me,  and  love  always 

"  Your  devoted  papa,  R.  E.  LEE. 

"Mrs.  WILLIAM  H.  FITZHUGH  LEE." 

"  JEFFERSONTOX,  Augmt  26,  1862. 
"I  arrived  at  my  tent   last  night,  my  dear  Chass,   and  to 

my  delight  found  your  F .      It  was*  the  first  time  I  had 

seen  him  since  the  battles  around  Richmond.  He  is  very  well, 
and  the  picture  of  health.  He  could  not  stay  very  long,  as  he 
had  to  return  to  his  camp,  about  four  miles  distant.  In  the 
recent  expedition  to  the  rear  of  the  enemy  (with  a  view  of  cut 
ting  off  their  railroad  communication),  he  led  his  regiment,  dur 
ing  a  terrible  storm  at  night,  right  through  the  camp  of  the 
enemy  to  Catlett's  Station,  capturing  several  hundred  prisoners 

and  some  valuable  papers  of  General  Pope.    His  cousin  L.  M 

is  said  to  have  escaped  at  the  first  onset,  leaving  his  toddy  un 
touched. 

"  I  am  so  grateful  to  Almighty  God  for  preserving,  guiding, 
and  directing  him  in  this  war!     Help  me  pray  to  Him  for  the 

continuance  of  his  signal  favor.     F ,  left  me  a  letter  of  M. 

-'s  to  read.  It  is  so  full  of  sympathy,  piety,  and  affection,  that 
I  inclose  it  to  you.  I  sent  you  several  messages  in  a  letter  to 
your  mother  yesterday.  Kiss  her  for  me.  I  have  heard  from 
neither  of  you  since  I  left  R . 

"  Give  much  love  to  everybody,  and  believe  me,  my  dear 
child, 

"  Affectionately  your  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

After  the  burning  of  the  White  House  in  June,  1862, 
Mrs.  Lee  and  her  daughters  occupied  a  rented  house  on 
Franklin  Street,  in  Eichmond,  which  is  now  pointed  out  as 
an  object  of  interest  to  the  tourist. 

It  ^is  needless  to  say  that  they  bore  their  full  share  of 
the  privations,  sacrifices,  and  untiring  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  the  Confederacy,  which  so  preeminently  characterized  the 


HIS  DOMESTIC   LIFE.  393 

women  of  Richmond  during  those  dark  days.  Mrs.  Lee 
busied  herself  knitting  socks  for  the  soldiers,  or  going  as  an 
"  angel  of  mercy  "  to  the  sick  and  wounded  of  the  hospitals, 
and  her  daughters  proved  themselves  worthy  of  their  illus 
trious  father  and  gallant  brothers. 

Many  an  humble  soldier  cherishes  to-day  as  among  his 
most  hallowed  memories  acts  of  kindness  which  he  received 
from  the  family  of  his  loved  chieftain. 

General  Lee's  family  letters  at  this  period  continued  to 
be  of  deepest  interest. 

He  wrote  the  following  to  a  daughter  within  the  enemy's 
lines : 

"  CAMP  NEAR  FREDERICKSRURG,  November  24,  1862. 
"  MY  DEAK  DAUGHTER  :  I  have  just  received  your  letter  of 
the  17th,  which  has  afforded  me  great  gratification.  I  regretted 
not  finding  you  in  Richmond,  and  grieve  over  every  opportunity 
of  seeing  you  that  is  lost,  for  I  fear  they  will  become  less  and 
less  frequent.  I  am  glad,  however,  that  you  have  been  able  to 
enjoy  the  society  of  those  who  are  so  well  qualified  to  render 
you  happy,  and  who  are  so  deservedly  loved  and  admired.  The 
death  of  my  dear  Annie  was  indeed  to  me  a  bitter  pang-.  But 
the  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  has  taken  awajr ;  blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  In  the  hours  of  night,  when  there  is  nothing 
to  lighten  the  full  weight  of  my  grief,  I  feel  as  if  I  should  be 
overwhelmed.  I  had  always  counted,  if  God  should  spare  me  a 
few  days  of  peace  after  this  cruel  war  was  ended,  that  I  should 
have  her  with  me.  But  year  after  year  my  hopes  go  out,  and  I 
must  be  resigned.  I  write  with  difficulty,  and  must  be  brief. 

F and  R are  near  me  and  well.  Nephew  F has  laid 

aside  his  crutches,  and  I  hope  will  soon  join  me.  Your  mother, 
I  presume,  informs  you  of  the  rest.  General  Burnside's  whole 
army  is  apparently  opposite  Fredericksburg,  and  stretches  from 
the  Rappahannock  to  the  Potomac.  What  his  intentions  are  he 
has  not  yet  disclosed.  I  am  sorry  he  is  in  position  to  oppress 
our  friends  and  citizens  of  the  '  Northern  Neck.'  He  threatens 
to  bombard  Fredericksburg,  and  the  noble  spirit  displayed  by  its 
citizens,  particularly  the  women  and  children,  has  elicited  my 


394  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

highest  admiration.  They  have  been  abandoning  their  homes 
night  and  day,  during  all  of  this  inclement  weather,  cheerfully 
and  uncomplainingly,  with  only  such  assistance  as  our  wagons 
and  ambulances  could  afford — women,  girls,  and  children,  trudg 
ing  through  the  mud,  and  bivouacking  in  the  open  field.  .  .  . 
"Believe  me  always  your  affectionate  father, 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

The  daughter,  whose  death  is  so  touchingly  alluded  to  in 
the  above  letter,  was  Miss  Annie  Carter  Lee,  who  died  at 
Warren  White  Sulphur  Springs,  K  C.,  the  20th  of  October, 
1862.  At  the  close  of  the  war  the  citizens  of  the  county 
erected  over  her  grave  a  handsome  monument,  which  was 
unveiled  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  In  response  to  an 
invitation  to  be  present,  General  Lee  wrote  the  following 
characteristic  letter : 

"ROCKBRIDGE  BATHS,  July  25,  1866. 

"  LADIES  :  I  have  read  with  deep  emotion  your  letter  of  the 
17th  inst.,  inviting  myself  and  family  to  witness  the  erection  of 
a  monument  over  the  remains  of  my  daughter  at  Warren  White 
Sulphur  Springs  on  the  8th  of  next  month. 

"  I  do  not  know  how  to  express  to  you  my  thanks  for  your 
great  kindness  to  her  while  living,  and  for  your  affectionate 
remembrance  of  her  since  dead. 

"My  gratitude  for  your  attention  and  consideration  will 
continue  through  life,  and  my  prayers  will  be  daily  offered  to 
the  throne  of  the  Most  High  for  his  boundless  blessings  upon 
you. 

"I  have  always  cherished  the  intention  of  visiting  the  tomb 
of  her  who  never  gave  me  aught  but  pleasure ;  but,  to  afford  me 
the  satisfaction  which  I  crave,  it  must  be  attended  with  more 
privacy  than  I  can  hope  for  on  the  occasion  you  propose. 

"But  there  are  more  controlling  considerations  which  will 
prevent  my  being  present.  Her  mother,  who  for  years  has 
been  afflicted  with  a  painful  disease,  which  has  reduced  her  to  a 
state  of  helplessness,  is  this  far  on  her  way  to  the  Mineral 
Springs,  which  are  considered  the  best  calculated  to  afford  her 
relief.  My  attendance  is  necessary  to  her  in  her  journey,  and 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  395 

the  few  weeks  I  have  now  at  my  disposal  is  the  only  time  which 
can  be  devoted  to  this  purpose. 

"  Though  absent  in  person,  my  heart  will  be  with  you,  and 
my  sorrow  and  devotions  will  be  mingled  with  yours. 

"I  hope  my  eldest  son  and  daughter  may  be  able  to  be 
present  with  you,  but,  as  they  are  distant  from  me,  I  cannot  tell 
under  what  circumstances  your  invitation  may  find  them.  I  feel 
certain,  however,  that  nothing  but  necessity  will  prevent  their 
attendance. 

"  I  inclose,  according  to  your  request,  the  date  of  my  daugh 
ter's  birth,  and  the  inscription  proposed  for  the  monument  over 
her  tomb.  The  latter  are  the  last  lines  of  the  hymn  which  she 
asked  for  just  before  her  death. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE. 
"  Mrs.  JOSEPH  S.  JONES,  Mrs.  THOMAS  CARROLL,  Miss  BROWNLOW,  Miss  M.  ALSTON, 

Mrs.  J.  M.  HECK,  Mrs.  LUCINDA  JONES — Committee." 

The  date  of  the  following  letter  gives  it  additional  inter 
est.  The  movements  of  Burnside  were  developing  them 
selves,  and  the  sanguinary  battle  of  Fredericksburg  was  about 
to  open  ;  but  the  charger  of  the  great  captain  must  "  wait  at 
his  tent-door "  while  from  a  heart  as  tender  as  that  of  the 
gentlest  woman  he  sends  these  lines  of  affectionate  sympathy 
to  the  bereaved  mother  : 

"CAMP  FREDEUICKSBURG,  December  10,  1862. 

u  I  heard  yesterday,  my  dear  daughter,  with  the  deepest  sor 
row,  of  the  death  of  your  infant.  I  was  so  grateful  at  her  birth. 
I  felt  that  she  would  be  such  a  comfort  to  you,  such  a  pleasure 
to  my  dear  Fitzhugh,  and  would  fill  so  full  the  void  still  aching 
in  your  hearts.  But  you  have  now  two  sweet  angels  in  heaven. 
What  joy  there  is  in  the  thought !  What  relief  to  your  grief ! 
What  suffering  and  sorrow  they  have  escaped  1  I  can  say  noth 
ing  to  soften  the  anguish  you  must  feel,  and  I  know  you  are  as 
sured  of  my  deep  and  affectionate  sympathy.  May  God  give 
you  strength  to  bear  the  affliction  He  has  imposed,  and  pro 
duce  future  joy  out  of  your  present  misery,  is  my  earnest 
prayer. 


396  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

"  I  saw  F yesterday.    He  is  well,  and  wants  much  to  see 

you.  When  you  are  strong  enough,  cannot  you  come  up  to 
Hickory  Hill,  or  your  grandpa's,  on  a  little  visit,  when  he  can 
come  down  and  see  you?  My  horse  is  waiting  at  my  tent- 
door,  but  I  could  not  refrain  from  sending  these  few  lines  to  re 
call  to  you  the  thought  and  love  of 

"  Your  devoted  father,  R.  E.  LEE. 

"  Mrs.  WM.  H.  FITZHCGH  LEE." 

"  CAMP  FREDERICKSBURG,  March  3,  1863. 

"  I  received  to-day,  my  darling  daughter,  your  letter  of  the 
28th,  and  it  has  furnished  me  such  pleasing  thoughts !     I  am 

glad  you  are  so  well  and  happy.     Tell  F I  know  you  '  look 

very  well,'  and,  more  than  that,  you  look  beautiful,  and  that  he 

must  answer  all  your  questions,  and  R must  drive  you  out 

every  day.  You  and  that  young  bride  must  make  fine  company 
for  each  other,  affording  each  other  so  much  time  for  fruitful 
thought,  and,  when  you  do  speak,  always  on  the  same  subject, 
your  husbands.  How  deluded  each  must  appear  to  the  other  ! 
As  to  F ,  the  Misses  H need  take  no  credit  to  them 
selves  for  perceiving  his  condition.  It  is  patent  to  all  the  world, 
and  requires  no  Columbus  to  discover  it.  Tell  him  that  he  must 
look  at  you  as  much  as  he  can,  and  be  with  you  as  much  as  he 
can,  for  the  spring  is  approaching,  and  we  have  a  great  deal  be 
fore  us.  I  am  glad  you  have  had  this  opportunity  to  be  to 
gether,  and  hope  the  war  with  all  its  baneful  effects  will  always 
be  removed  far  from  you.  It  is  strange,  though,  that  nobody 
writes  to  you  now.  You  are  both  such  good  correspondents 
that  I  should  think  you  would  be  overwhelmed  with  letters. 
Your  mamma  says  neither  of  you  ever  writes  to  her.  But  I  tell 
her  it  is  the  fault  of  the  mails.  Your  poor  mamma  has  been 
a  great  sufferer  this  winter.  I  have  not  been  able  to  see  her, 
and  fear  I  shall  not.  She  talks  of  coming  to  Hickory  Hill  this 
month,  when  the  weather  becomes  more  fixed.  We  are  up  to 
our  eyes  in  mud,  now,  and  have  but  little  comfort.  Mr.  Hooker 
looms  very  large  over  the  river.  He  has  two  balloons  up  in  the 
day,  and  one  at  night.  I  hope  he  is  gratified  at  what  he  sees. 
irour  cousin,  Fiiz  Lee,  beat  up  his  quarters  the  other  day  with 


HIS   DOMESTIC   LIFE.  397 

about  four  hundred  of  his  cavalry,  and  advanced  within  four 
miles  of  Falmouth,  carrying  off  one  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners, 
with  their  horses,  arms,  etc.  The  day  after  he  recrossed  the 
Rappahannock,  they  sent  all  their  cavalry  after  him,  and  even 
brought  Sir  Percy  Wyndham  and  his  three  regiments  from 
Chantilly  down  upon  him  ;  but  the  bird  had  flown.  It  was  re 
ported  that  they  displayed  ten  thousand  cavalry — I  suppose 
half  that  number  would  be  nearer  the  truth.  I  hope  these 

young  Lees  will  always  be  too  smart  for  the  enemy.     Kiss  F 

for  me,  and  give   much  love  to  R .      I  pray   daily  to  our 

heavenly  Father  to  guard,  guide,  and  protect  you  all.  Tell 
F — —  I  will  not  write  to  him  this  time.  It  is  so  dark  I  can 
hardly  see.  I  am  obliged  to  him  for  his  letter. 

"  Your  devoted  papa,  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  is  without  date,  but  was  evidently  written 
about  this  time : 

"  MY  DEAR  FITZHUGH  i  ...  I  wrote  you  a  few  lines  the 
other  day,  and  also  to  daughter  Charlotte.  Tell  her  she  must 
talk  quick  to  you.  Her  time  is  getting  short,  and  the  soldiers 
complain  of  the  officers'  wives  visiting  them  when  theirs  can 
not.  I  am  petitioned  to  send  them  off.  Your  poor  mother  is,  I 
fear,  no  better.  I  received  yesterday  a  very  pleasing  letter 

from  Rev.  Dr.  S ,  complimentary  of  precious .     I  have 

mailed  it  to  your  mother.  Kiss  Chass  for  me,  and  tell  her  that 
daughters  are  not  prohibited  from  visiting  their  papas.  It  is 
only  objected  to  wives  visiting  their  husbands.  But  she  and 

Mrs.  R are  not  included  in  the  prohibition.      Your  uncle 

Carter  says  that  they  had  him,  with  a  gun  and  sword  buckled  to 
him,  guarding  a  ford  on  James  River  during  Stoneman's  last 
expedition.  You  and  Fitz  must  not  let  them  capture  your 
uncle.  I  wish  I  could  have  seen  your  review  ;  I  hope  Chass  did. 

"  Affectionately  your  father,  R.  E.  LEE. 

"  General  WM.  FITZHUGH  LEE." 

The  two  following  letters  were  written  on  the  occasion  of 
the  wounding  of  his  son  in  the  severe  cavalry-fight  of  Brandy 
Station : 


398  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  MY  DEAR  SON  :  I  send  you  a  dispatch  received  from  C 

last  night.  I  hope  you  are  comfortable  this  morning.  I  wish  I 
could  see  you,  but  I  cannot.  Take  care  of  yourself,  and  make 
haste  and  get  well,  and  return.  Though  I  scarcely  ever  saw 
you,  it  was  a  great  comfort  to  know  that  you  were  near  and 
with  me.  I  could  think  of  you  and  hope  to  see  you.  May  we 
yet  meet  in  peace  and  happiness  !  Kiss  Chass  for  me.  Tell  her 
she  must  not  tease  you  while  you  are  sick,  and  she  must  write 
and  let  me  know  how  you  are.  God  bless  you  both,  my  children ! 
"  Truly  your  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

"CULPEPER,  June  11,  1863. 

"  I  am  so  grieved,  my  dear  daughter,  to  send  Fitzhugh  to 
you  wounded.     But  I  am  so  grateful  that  his  wound  is  of  a 
character  to  give  us  full  hope  of  a  speedy  recovery.     With  his 
youth  and  strength  to  aid  him,  and  your  tender  care  to  nurse 
him,  I  trust  he  will  soon  be  well  again.     I  know  that  vou  will 
unite  with  me  in  thanks  to  Almighty  God,  who  has  so  often 
shielded  him  in  the  hour  of  danger,  for  this  recent  deliverance, 
and  lift  up  your  whole  heart  in  praise  to  Him  for  sparing  a  life 
so  dear  to  us,  while  enabling  him  to  do  his  duty  in  the  station 
in  which  He  had  placed  him.     Ask  him  to  join  us  in  supplica 
tion,  that  He  may  always  cover  him  with  the  shadow  of  His  al 
mighty  arm,  and  teach  him  that  his  only  refuge  is  in  Him,  the 
greatness  of  whose  mercy  reacheth  unto  the  heavens,  and  His 
truth  unto  the  clouds.     As  some  good  is  always  mixed  with  the 
evil  in  this  world,  you  will  now  have  him  with  you  for  a  time, 
and  I  shall  look  to  you  to  cure   him  very  soon,  and  send  him 
back  to  me  ;  for,  though  I  saw  him  seldom,  I  knew  he  was  near, 
and  always  hoped  to  see  him.     I  went  to-day  to  thank  Mrs. 
Hill  for  her  attention  to  him  and  kindness  to  you.     She  desired 
me  to  give  her  regards  to  you  both.     I  must  now  thank  you 
for  the  letter  you  wrote  to  me  while  at  Fredericksburg.     I  kept 
it  by   me  till  preparing  for  the   battle-field,   when,  fearing  it 
might  reach  the  eyes  of  General  Hooker,  I  destroyed  it.     We 

can  cany  with  us  only  our  recollections.     I  must  leave  F 

to  tell  you  about  the  battle,  the  army,  and  the  country.  .  .  . 
Tell  Cousin  A I  am  rejoiced  that  W is  unhurt,  though 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  399 

pretty  S might  like  to  see  the  ambulance  driving  up  again. 

I  want  all  the  husbands  in  the  field,  and  their  wives  at  home 
encouraging  them,  loving  them,  and  praying  for  them.  We 
have  a  great  work  to  accomplish,  which  requires  the  cordial  and 

united  strength  of  all.  .  .  .  Give  much  love  to  Cousin  A , 

Mrs.  L and  her  sweet  children,  Mr.  W ,  and  my  dear 

Uncle  W .     Tell  F he  must  make  haste  arid  get  well — 

that  I  am  sad  without  him.     You  and  R must  let  me  know 

how  he  gets  on. 

"  Truly  and  affectionately  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

While  slowly  recovering  from  tins  wound,  the  son  was 
captured  by  a  raiding-party  of  the  enemy  and  carried  to 
prison.  General  Lee  wrote  the  following  letter  soon  after 
this  event : 

"  CAMP  CULPEPER,  July  26,  1863. 

"  I  received  last  night,  my  darling  daughter,  your  letter  of 
the  18th  from  Hickory  Hill.  I  was  also  glad  to  hear  from 

M S — —  that  you  accompanied  your  mother  from  Ashland 

on  the  22d — I  presume  on  your  way  to  the  Alum  Springs.  I 
hope  the  water  and  mountain  air  will  invigorate  you  and  make 

you  -well.     You  must  not  be  sick  while  F is  away,  or  he 

will  be  more  restless  under  his  separation.  Get  strong  and 
hearty  by  his  return,  that  he  may  the  more  rejoice  at  the  sight 
of  you.  You  give  such  an  account  of  yourself  that  I  scarcely 
recognize  you.  What  sort  of  a  closet  is  that  to  which  you  com 
pare  yourself?  I  see  no  resemblance,  and  will  have  none.  I 

can  appreciate  your  distress  at  F 's  situation.      I  deeply 

sympathize  with  it,  and  in  the  lone  hours  of  the  night  I  groan 
in  sorrow  at  his  captivity  and  separation  from  you.  But  we 
must  all  bear  it,  exercise  all  our  patience,  and  do  nothing  to 
aggravate  the  evil.  This,  besides  injuring  ourselves,  would  re 
joice  our  enemies,  and  be  sinful  in  the  eyes  of  God.  In  His 
own  good  time  He  will  relieve  us,  and  make  all  things  work  to 
gether  for  our  good,  if  we  give  Him  our  love,  and  place  in  Him 
our  trust.  I  can  see  no  harm  that  will  result  from  F 's  cap 
ture  except  his  detention.  I  feel  assured  that  he  will  be  well 
attended  to.  He  will  be  in  the  hands  of  old  army  officers  and 


400  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

surgeons,  most  of  whom  are  men  of  principle  and  humanity. 
His  wound,  I  understand,  has  not  been  injured  by  his  removal, 
but  is  doing  well.  Nothing  would  do  him  more  harm  than  for 
him  to  learn  that  you  were  sick  and  sad.  How  could  he  get  well  ? 
So  cheer  up,  and  prove  your  fortitude  and  patriotism.  What, 
too,  should  I  do  ?  I  cannot  bear  to  think  of  you  except  as  I 
have  always  known  you — bright,  joyous,  and  happy.  You  may 

think  of  F ,  and  love  him  as  much  as  you  please,  but  do  not 

grieve  over  him  or  grow  sad.  That  will  not  be  right,  you 
precious  child  !  I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  see  you  on  your  re 
turn  from  the  Springs,  and  be  able  to  welcome  F ,  too.  I 

miss  him  very  much,  and  want  his  assistance,  too.  Perhaps  I 
should  have  been  able  to  have  done  better  in  Pennsylvania  if 
he  had  been  with  me.  .  .  .  General  Stuart  is  as  dashing  as 

ever.     Colonel  Chambliss  commands  F 's  brigade  now.    The 

cavalry  has  had  hard  service,  and  is  somewhat  pulled  down. 
But  we  shall  build  it  up  now.  It  has  lost  some  gallant  officers, 
which  causes  me  deep  grief.  Indeed,  the  loss  of  our  gallant 
officers  and  men  throughout  the  army  causes  me  to  weep  tears 
of  blood,  and  to  wish  that  I  never  could  hear  the  sound  of  a  gun 
again.  My  only  consolation  is,  that  they  are  the  happier,  and 
we  that  are  left  are  to  be  pitied. 

"  I  am  sorry  for  the  disappointment  I  caused  you  by  return 
ing  to  Virginia,  but  under  the  circumstances  it  was  the  best  to 
be  done.  Had  not  the  Shenandoah  been  so  high,  I  should  have 
gone  into  Loudon ;  but,  being  unable  to  cross  it,  I  determined 
to  come  here.  You  must  think  of  me,  and  pray  for  me  always, 
and  know  that  I  am  always  thinking  of  you.  I  am  so  sorry  that 
the  enemy  treated  my  dear  Uncle  Williams  so  badly.  I  also 

grieve  at  not  seeing  M .     Good-by,  my  dear  child.      May 

God  in  His  great  mercy  guard  and  protect  you,  and  your  dear 
husband !  I  saw  Mrs.  Hill  to-day,  and  she  inquired  very  kindly 

after  you  and  F . 

"  Your  affectionate  papa,  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  hopes  expressed  in  the  above  letter  were  sadly 
blighted.  The  husband  lingered  in  a  wearisome  captivity 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  the  accomplished  wife  died  before  his 


HIS   DOMESTIC  LIFE.  401 

release,  and  the  father  was  plunged  into  deepest  grief.  He 
wrote  the  following  letter  soon  after  the  son's  return  from 
prison : 

"  CAMP  ORANGE  COUNTY,  April  24,  1864. 

"  I  received  last  night,  my  dear  son,  your  letter  of  the  22d. 
It  has  given  me  great  comfort.  God  knows  how  I  loved  your 
clear,  dear  wife,  how  sweet  her  memory  is  to  me,  and  how  I 
mourn  her  loss.  My  grief  could  not  be  greater  if  you  had  been 
taken  from  me.  You  were  both  equally  dear  to  me.  My  heart 
is  too  full  to  speak  on  this  subject,  nor  can  I  write.  But  my 
grief  is  for  ourselves,  not  for  her.  She  is  brighter  and  happier 
than  ever — safe  from  all  evil,  and  awaiting  us  in  her  heavenly 
abode.  May  God  in  His  mercy  enable  us  to  join  her  in  eternal 
praise  to  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  Let  us  humbly  bow  our 
selves  before  Him,  and  offer  perpetual  prayer  for  pardon  and 
forgiveness.  But  we  cannot  indulge  in  grief,  however  mourn 
fully  pleasing.  Our  country  demands  all  our  strength,  all  our 
energies.  To  resist  the  powerful  combination  now  forming 
against  us  will  require  every  man  at  his  place.  If  victorious,  we 
have  every  thing  to  hope  for  in  the  future.  If  defeated,  nothing 
will  be  left  us  to  live  for.  I  have  not  heard  what  action  has 
been  taken  by  the  department  in  reference  to  my  recommenda 
tions  concerning  the  organization  of  the  cavalry.  But  we  have 
no  time  to  wait,  and  you  had  better  join  your  brigade.  This 
week  will  in  all  probability  bring  us  active  work,  and  we  must 
strike  fast  and  strong.  My  whole  trust  is  in  God,  and  I  am 
ready  for  whatever  He  may  ordain.  May  He  guide,  guard,  and 
strengthen  us,  is  my  constant  prayer ! 

"Your  devoted  father,  R.  E.  LEE. 

"  General  WILLIAM  F.  LEE." 

* 

The  above  letter,  written  on  the  eve  of  the  great  cam 
paign  of  1864,  is  the  last  I  shall  introduce  of  his  family 
letters  written  during  the  war. 

His  wife  and  daughters  continued  to  reside  in  Richmond, 
where  he  joined  them  after  the  surrender.  A  few  weeks 
later  he  escaped  the  publicity  of  a  residence  in  Richmond, 
26 


402  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

which  was  at  that  time  so  annoying  to  him,  and  sought  a 
quiet  home  in  Cumberland  County — two  of  his  sons  having 
gone  to  farm  the  plantations  at  the  White  Rouse  and  Ronan- 
cocke.  The  following  letter  gives  an  inside  view  of  his 
feelings  and  purposes  at  this  time : 

"NEAR  CARTERSVILLE,  CUMBERLAND  COUNTY,  VA.,  July  29,  1865. 

"  MY  DEAR  FITZHUGH  i  I  was  very  glad  to  receive  by  the 
last  packet  from  Richmond  your  letter  of  the  22d.  We  had  all 
been  quite  anxious  to  hear  from  you,  and  were  much  gratified 
to  learn  that  you  were  all  well,  and  doing  well.  It  is  very 
cheering  to  me  to  hear  of  your  good  prospects  for  corn,  and 
your  cheerful  prospects  for  the  future.  God  grant  they  may  be 
realized,  which,  I  am  sure,  they  will  be,  if  you  will  unite  sound 
judgment  to  your  usual  energy  in  your  operations. 

"  As  to  the  indictments,  I  hope  you,  at  least,  may  not  be 
prosecuted.  I  see  no  more  reason  for  it  than  for  prosecuting  all 
who  ever  engaged  in  the  war.  I  think,  however,  we  may  expect 
procrastination  in  measures  of  relief,  denunciatory  threats,  etc. 
We  must  be  patient,  and  let  them  take  their  course.  As  soon 
as  I  can  ascertain  their  intention  toward  me,  if  not  prevented,  I 
shall  endeavor  to  procure  some  humble  but  quiet  abode  for  your 
mother  and  sisters,  where  I  hope  they  can  be  happy.  As  I  be 
fore  said,  I  want  to  get  in  some  grass  country,  where  the  natural 
product  of  the  land  will  do  much  for  my  subsistence.  .  .  . 

"  Our  neighbors  are  very  kind,  and  do  every  thing  in  the 
world  to  promote  our  comfort.  If  A is  well  'enough,  I  pro 
pose  next  week  to  ride  up  to  Bremo.  I  wish  I  was  near  enough 

to  see  you.  Give  much  love  to  R ,  and  J ,  the  C s, 

and  B s.  All  here  unite  in  love  and  best  wishes  for  you  all. 

"  Most  affectionately,  your  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

Not  long  after  General  Lee  assumed  charge  of  Wash 
ington  College,  his  family  removed  to  Lexington,  and  occu 
pied  a  house  on  the  college  campus  until  the  new  president's 
house  was  built. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  see  much  of  his  "  domestic  life  " 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  403 

in  Lexington,  to  have  been  the  frequent  inmate  of  his  model 
home,  and  to  have  seen  him  in  the  pleasant  intercourse  of 
the  family  circle. 

And,  while  I  may  not  violate  the  confidence  reposed  in 
me,  or  expose  to  the  public  gaze  the  privacy  of  that  home,  I 
may  say  that,  if  one  wanted  to  paint  a  model  husband  and 
father,  he  would  search  the  world  in  vain  for  a  brighter 
example  than  that  of  this  great  man.  Whether,  with 
affectionate  playfulness,  teasing  his  daughters,  tenderly 
wheeling  Mrs.  Lee  (who  had  become  a  confirmed  invalid)  in 
her  chair,  or  providing  in  other  ways  for  her  comfort,  or 
entertaining  his  visitors  with  that  inimitable  courtesy  and 
grace  which  seemed  inseparable  from  the  man,  he  always 
won  your  admiration,  and  made  you  feel  that  he  was  the  very 
embodiment  of  all  the  virtues  of  the  domestic  circle. 

Of  Mrs.  Lee  it  may  be  truly  said  that  she  was  worthy  to 
grace  the  home  and  cheer  the  eventful  life  of  this  king  of 
men.  Though  rendered  by  sickness  incapable  of  walking, 
and  never  free  from  pain,  she  bore  her  sufferings  with 
Christian  cheerfulness,  and  always  seemed  contented  and 
happy.  Yery  domestic  in  her  tastes  and  habits,  and  of  un 
conquerable  industry,  she  would  paint,  knit,  sew,  write,  or 
entertain  her  friends,  and  was  an  earnest  worker  for  all  of 
the  interests  of  her  Church,  as  she  was  a  liberal  contributor 
to  every  charity  that  presented  itself.  Noted  for  her  ex 
traordinary  common-sense  and  sound  judgment — thoroughly 
educated  and  very  accomplished — fond  of  reading,  and  re 
markably  well  read  in  general  literature — a  fine  conversa 
tionalist  and  a  most  genial,  pleasant  entertainer — in  a  word, 
a  Virginia  matron  of  the  old  school — she  combined  domestic 
virtues  worthy  to  link  together  the  families  of  Washington 
and  Lee,  was  the  light  and  joy  of  her  home,  and  the  recog 
nized  leader  of  the  social  circle  of  Lexington.  The  friend  oi 
the  poor,  she  was  beloved  by  all,  and  her  death  last  year  ex 
cited  in  the  community  a  sorrow  such  as  it  had  not  experi 
enced  since  General  Lee  died. 


i04  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

The  feelings  with  which  General  Lee  entered  upon  his 
new  work,  and  established  in  this  mountain  town  his  new 
home,  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  extract  from  a 
letter  to  his  son,  dated  October  30,  1865 : 

"  I  was  delighted  to  receive,  by  the  last  mail,  your  letter  of 
the  17th  inst.  Your  affection  is  a  great  comfort  to  me,  and  the 
prospect  of  your  society  in  my  declining  years  has  always  been 
to  me  a  source  of  great  pleasure.  I  accepted  the  presidency  of 
the  college  in  the  hope  that  I  might  be  of  some  service  to  the 
country,  and  the  rising  generation,  and  not  from  any  preference 
of  my  own.  I  should  have  selected  a  more  quiet  life,  and  a 
more  retired  abode  than  Lexington,  and  should  have  preferred  a 
small  farm  where  I  could  have  earned  my  daily  bread.  If  I  find 
I  can  accomplish  no  good  here,  I  will  then  endeavor  to  pursue 
the  course  to  which  my  inclinations  point.  The  people  have 
been  very  considerate  and  kind  to  me,  and  do  every  thing  to  pro 
mote  my  comfort,  and  so  far  the  classes  are  studying  remarka 
bly  welf." 

The  following  letter  to  one  of  his  old  servants  illustrates 
his  kindly  feeling  for  his  domestics,  which  might  be  treated 
of  at  length.  l^ever  did  servants  have  kinder  master,  or  one 
who  provided  better  for  their  comfort  and  happiness : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  9,  18C6. 
"AMANDA  PARKS. 

"  AMANDA  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  27th  ult.,  and 
regret  very  much  that  I  did  not  see  you  when  I  was  in  Wash 
ington.  I  heard,  on  returning  to  my  room  Sunday  night,  that 
you  had  been  to  see  me,  and  I  was  sony  to  have  missed  you, 
for  I  wished  to  learn  how  you  were,  and  how  all  the  people 
from  Arlington  were  getting  on  in  the  world.  My  interest  in 
them  is  as  great  now  as  it  ever  was,  and  I  sincerely  wish  foi 
their  happiness  and  prosperity.  At  the  period  specified  in  Mr. 
Custis's  will,  five  years  from  the  time  of  his  death,  I  caused  the 
liberation  of  all  the  people  at  Arlington,  as  well  as  those  at  the 
White  House  and  Romancocke,  to  be  recorded  in  the  Hustings 
,Court  at  Richmond,  and  letters  of  manumission  to  be  given  to 


HIS  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  405 

those,  with  whom  I  could  communicate,  who  desired  them.  In 
consequence  of  the  war  which  then  existed,  I  could  do  nothing 
more  for  them. 

"  I  do  not  know  why  you  should  ask  if  I  am  angry  with  you. 
I  am  not  aware  of  your  having  done  any  thing  to  give  me  of 
fense,  and  hope  you  would  not  say  or  do  what  was  wrong. 
While  you  lived  at  Arlington  you  behaved  very  well,  and  were 
attentive  and  faithful  to  your  duties.  I  hope  you  will  always 
conduct  yourself  in  the  same  manner.  Wishing  you  health, 
happiness,  and  success  in  life, 

"  I  am,  very  truly, 
(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  throws  additional  light  on  his  life  and  feel 
ings  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  26,  1867. 

"  MY  DEAR  SON  :  You  must  not  think,  because  I  write  so 
seldom,  that  you  are  absent  from  my  thoughts.  I  think  of  you 
constantly,  and  am  ever  revolving  in  my  mind  all  that  concerns 
you.  I  have  an  ardent  desire  to  see  you  reestablished  at  your 
home,  and  enjoying  the  pleasure  of  prosperity  around  you.  I 
know  this  cannot  be  accomplished  at  once,  but  must  come  from 
continuous  labor,  economy,  and  industry,  and  be  the  result  of 
years  of  good  management.  We  have  now  nothing  to  do  but 
to  attend  to  our  material  interests,  which,  collectively,  will  ad 
vance  the  interests  of  the  State,  and  to  await  events.  The  domi 
nant  party  cannot  reign  forever,  and  truth  and  justice  will  at 

last  prevail.    I  hope  I  can  get  down  to  see  you  and  R during 

the  next  vacation.  I  shall  then  have  a  more  correct  apprehen 
sion  of  existing  circumstances,  and  can  follow  your  progress 
more  satisfactorily.  I  was  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the 
nice  eye-glasses  you  sent  me  Christmas,  and  asked  your  mother 
and  the  girls  to  thank  you  for  them,  which  I  hope  they  did  ;  I 
fear  they  are  too  nice  for  my  present  circumstances.  .  .  .  We 

have  all  now  to  confine  ourselves  strictly  to  our  necessities 

I  wish  I  was  nearer  to  you  all.      M is  still  in  Baltimore, 

though  she  contemplates  leaving  there  soon  and  going  to  Nor 
folk.  She  speaks  also  of  halting  at  B on  her  way  to  Rich- 


±06  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

mond.     All  here  unite  in  much  love.     Your  mother  is  about  the 
same — busy  with  her  needle  and  her  pen,  and  as  cheerful  as 

ever.     C has  not  been  well  of  late,  but  I  hope  he  is  now 

better ;  and  the  girls  are  quite  well.     Your  friends  in  town  fre 
quently  inquire  after  you,  and  will  be  glad  to  see  you  again. 
"  Affectionately,  your  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

A  number  of  his  letters,  expressing  his  delight  at  his 
son's  contemplated  marriage,  giving  vivid  pictures  of  home- 
life  at  Lexington,  and  kindly  and  most  sensible  advice  about 
the  details  of  farming,  etc.,  would  be  of  deep  interest  to  the 
reader,  but  may  not  be  inserted  because  of  their  personal 
reference  to  individuals  who  are  still,  fortunately,  living. 

I  will,  however,  give  the  following  extracts  from  other 
letters.  In  a  letter  dated  December  21,  1867,  he  thus  al 
ludes  to  his  visit  to  Petersburg  to  attend  his  son's  marriage  : 

"  My  visit  to  Petersburg  was  extremely  pleasant.  Besides 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  my  daughter,  and  being  with  you,  which 
was  very  great,  I  was  gratified  in  seeing  so  many  old  friends. 

"  When  our  army  was  in  front  of  Petersburg,  I  suffered  so 
much  in  body  and  miad  on  account  of  the  good  townspeople, 
especially  on  that  gloomy  night  when  I  was  forced  to  abandon 
them,  that  I  have  always  reverted  to  them  in  sadness  and  sor 
row.  My  old  feelings  returned  to  me  as  I  passed  well-remem 
bered  spots,  and  recalled  the  ravages  of  hostile  shot  and  shell. 
But,  when  I  saw  the  cheerfulness  with  which  the  people  were 
working  to  restore  their  fortunes,  and  witnessed  the  comforts 
with  which  they  were  surrounded,  a  cloud  of  sorrow  which  had 
been  pressing  upon  me  for  years  was  lifted  from  my  heart. 

"  This  is  bad  weather  for  completing  your  house,  but  it  wilJ 
soon  pass  away,  and  your  sweet  helpmate  will  make  every  thing 
go  smoothly.  When  the  spring  opens,  and  the  mocking-birds 
resume  their  song,  you  will  have  much  to  do,  so  you  must  pre 
pare  in  time.  ..." 

In  a  letter  to  the  same,  under  date  of  March  30, 1868,  h* 
pleasantly  says : 


HIS   DOMESTIC  LIFE.  407 

"  I  am  very  glad  that  you  are  so  pleased  with  your  house.  I 
think  it  must  be  my  daughter  that  gives  it  such  a  charm.  I  am 
sure  that  she  will  make  every  thing  look  bright  to  me.  It  is  a 
good  thing  that  the  wheat  is  doing  so  well,  for  I  am  not  sure 

that— 

1  The  flame  you  are  so  rich  in 
Will  light  a  fire  in  the  kitchen, 
Nor  the  little  god  turn  the  spit,  spit,  spit.' 

Some  material  aliment  is  necessary  to  make  it  burn  brightly, 
and  furnish  some  good  dishes  for  the  table.  Shad  are  good  in 
their  way,  but  they  do  not  swim  up  the  Pamunkey  all  the  year." 

The  quotations  from  his  family  letters  will  be  concluded 
with  the  following,  written  just  before  his  trip  South  the 
spring  before  his  death : 

"  LEXINGTON  VA.,  March  22,  1870. 

"  MY  DEAK  FITZHUGH  i  Your  letter  of  the  17th  instant  has 
been  received.  Lest  I  should  appear  obstinate  if  not  perverse, 
I  have  yielded  to  the  kind  importunity  of  my  physicians,  and  of 
the  Faculty,  to  take  a  trip  toward  the  South.  In  pursuance  of 
my  resolution,  I  expect  to  leave  here  Thursday  next  in  the  pack 
et-boat,  and  hope  to  arrive  in  Richmond  Friday  afternoon.  I 
shall  take  Agnes  with  me  as  my  companion  (she  has  been  my 
kind  and  uncomplaining  nurse),  and,  if  we  could  only  get  down 
to  you  that  evening,  we  would  do  so,  for  I  want  to  see  you,  my 
sweet  daughter,  and  dear  grandson.  But  as  the  doctors  think 
it  important  that  I  should  reach  a  southern  climate  as  soon  as 
practicable,  I  fear  I  shall  have  to  leave  my  visit  to  you  till  my 
return.  I  shall  go  first  to  Warrenton  Springs,  North  Carolina, 
to  visit  the  grave  of  my  dear  Annie,  where  I  have  always 
promised  myself  to  go,  and  I  think  if  I  am  to  accomplish  it  J 
have  no  time  to  lose.  I  wish  to  witness  her  quiet  sleep,  witb 
her  dear  hands  crossed  over  her  breast,  as  it  were,  in  mute 
prayer,  undisturbed  by  her  distance  from  us,  and  to  feel  thai 
her  pure  spirit  is  roaming  in  bliss  in  the  land  of  the  blessed. 

"From  there,  according  to  my  feelings,  I  shall  either  go 
down  to  Norfolk  or  to  Savannah,  and  take  you,  if  practicable,  on 
my  return.  .  .  .  We  are  all  as  usual.  Your  mother  still  talks 


408  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

of  visiting  you,  and,  when  I  urge  her  to  make  preparations  for 
her  journey,  she  replies,  rather  disdainfully,  that  she  has  none 

to  make,  they  have  been  made  years  ago.     C and  M 

are  well,  and  M writes  that  she  will  be  back  by  the  1st  of 

April.  We  are  having  beautiful  weather  now,  which  I  hope 
may  continue.  I  am  so  tired  sitting  at  my  table  that  I  must 
conclude.  Love  to  all,  from 

"  Your  affectionate  father,  R.  E.  LEE." 

Many  other  letters  of  similar  character  might  be  given, 
and  much  more  might  be  written  on  the  domestic  life  of 
this  great  and  good  man ;  but  the  above  must  suffice.  The 
home  circle  has  been,  alas !  sadly  broken.  The  illustrious 
head  of  the  house — the  noble  matron  who  shared  his  joys 
and  sorrows — the  accomplished  daughters  who  were  indeed  a 
light  and  a  joy  in  the  home — come  not  back  to  their  accus 
tomed  places,  and  there  are  vacant  chairs,  and  missing  forms, 
and  silent  voices,  which  tell  of  a  desolated  hearthstone  and  a 
broken  family  circle.  Father,  mother,  and  daughter,  rest  to 
gether  beneath  the  college  chapel  at  Lexington,  while  the 
noble  women  of  the  old  North  State  guard  the  resting-place 
of  the  other.  But  their  pure  spirits  bask  in  the  sunlight  of  the 
brighter  home  above,  and  await  the  day  when,  in  one  of  those 
mansions  which  Jesus  went  to  prepare,  the  home  circle  shall 
be  reunited,  and  the  "domestic  life"  be  joyous  forever. 


CHAPTER  XL 

HIS     LOVE    FOE     CHILDREN. 

~No  record  of  General  Lee's  character  would  be  complete 
without  some  mention  of  his  marked  fondness  for  children, 
and  the  incidents  illustrating  this  are  so  numerous  that  I  am 
at  a  loss  to  know  which  to  recite. 

On  the  morning  of  July  4,  1861,  little  Henry  T (a 

bright  little  boy  of  five,  and  an  enthusiastic  Confederate) 
went  with  his  father  to  call  on  General  Lee  at  his  headquar 
ters  in  Richmond,  and  to  present  him  with  a  handsome  copy 
of  the  Bible  in  four  volumes. 

One  of  the  staff  met  them  at  the  door  and  reported  that 
the  general  was  too  busy  to  see  them ;  but,  when  the  great 
chieftain  heard  the  prattle  of  the  little  boy,  he  called  to  his 
aide  to  admit  them. 

Receiving  them  with  great  cordiality,  he  accepted  the 
gift  of  the  Bible  with  evident  gratification,  and  was  fondling 
the  little  boy  on  his  knee,  when  the  father  inconsiderately 
asked  Henry,  "  What  is  General  Lee  going  to  do  with  Gen 
eral  Scott  ? " 

The  little  fellow,  who  had  caught  some  of  the  slang  oi 
the  camp,  and  fully  entered  into  the  confident  spirit  which 
we  all  had  in  those  early  days  of  the  war,  instantly  replied. 
"  He  is  going  to  whip  him  out  of  his  breeches  !  " 

General  Lee's  voice  and  manner  instantaneously  changed, 
and,  lifting  Henry  down,  he  stood  him  up  between  his  knees, 
and,  looking  him  full  in  the  face,  said,  with  great  gravity : 


410  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  My  dear  little  boy,  you  should  not  use  such  expressions ; 
war  is  a  serious  matter,  and  General  Scott  is  a  great  and 
good  soldier.  None  of  us  can  tell  what  the  result  of  this 
contest  will  be." 

A  few  days  after  this,  General  Lee  rode  out  to  pay  a 
special  visit  to  little  Henry.  He  told  him  that  he  wished  to 
make  him  some  return  for  his  present ;  that  he  was  very  much 
pleased  at  such  a  gift  from  a  little  boy,  and  that  he  could  not 
have  given  him  any  thing  which  he  would  have  prized  so 
highly  as  the  Holy  Bible,  especially  in  so  convenient  a  form. 
He  then  handed  him  a  copy  of  Mr.  Custis's  "  Eecollections 
of  General  Washington,"  edited  by  Mrs.  Lee,  in  which  he 
had  written  his  own  name  and  its  presentation  to  Henry. 

It  is  hard  to  say  whether  the  boy  was  most  delighted 
with  the  visit  or  the  book,  or  with  being  placed  by  the  gen 
eral  in  his  saddle  on  the  back  of  "Bichmond,"  the  horse 
he  then  rode. 

While  at  Petersburg  in  the  winter  of  1861  he  attended 
preaching  one  day  at  a  crowded  chapel,  and  noticed  a  little 
girl,  dressed  in  faded  garments,  standing  just  inside  the  door 
and  timidly  looking  around  for  a  seat.  "  Come  with  me,  my 
little  lady,"  said  the  great  soldier,  "  and  you  shall  sit  by  me." 
And  taking  the  little  girl  by  the  hand  he  secured  her  a  com 
fortable  seat  at  his  side. 

Eev.  W.  H.  Platt,  of  Louisville,  who  lived  in  Peters 
burg  during  the  war,  gives  the  following:  "  One  day  in 
Eichmond  a  number  of  little  girls  were  rolling  hoops  on  the 
sidewalk,  when  word  was  passed  from  one  to  another  that 
General  Lee  was  riding  toward  them.  They  all  gathered 
into  a  still  group  to  gaze  upon  one  of  whom  they  had  heard 
BO  much,  when,  to  their  surprise,  he  threw  his  rein  to  his 
attending  courier,  dismounted,  and  kissed  every  one  of  them, 
and  then,  mounting,  rode  away,  with  the  sunny  smile  of 
childhood  in  his  heart  and  plans  of  great  battles  in  his  mind. 

"  Once  in  Petersburg,  he  called  to  see  a  child  in  whom  he 
felt  a  special  interest,  and  finding  her  sick,  begged  to  be 


HIS  LOVE  FOR   CHILDREN.  411 

shown  to  her  room.  When  the  mother,  who  was  at  a  neigh 
bor's  for  a  moment,  came  home,  she  found  him  by  the  bed 
side  of  her  sick  child,  ministering  to  her  comfort  and  cheer 
ing  her  with  his  words." 

In  calling  one  day  in  Petersburg  upon  the  accomplished 
lady  of  the  gallant  and  lamented  General  A.  P.  Hill,  his 
bright  little  girl  met  him  at  the  door  and  exclaimed,  with 
that  familiarity  which  the  kind-hearted  old  hero  had  taught 
her :  "  O  General  Lee,  here  is  '  Bobby  Lee '  (holding  up  a 
puppy) ;  "  do  kiss  him." 

The  general  pretended  to  do  so,  and  the  little  creature 
was  delighted. 

Many  children  all  through  the  land  were  named  after 
him,  and,  instead  of  being  annoyed  by  it,  as  some  men  of 
distinction  have  been,  he  seemed  to  regard  it  as  a  compli 
ment,  which  he  always  acknowledged.  The  following  are 
specimens  of  many  similar  letters : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  May  29,  I860. 

"  Mr.  A.  P.  M ,  La  Grange,  Ga.  (for  Robert  Lee  M ). 

"  MY  DEAR  YOUNG  FRIEND  :  I  have  just  become  acquainted 
with  you,  through  a  letter  from  your  father,  and  hasten  to  ex 
press  the  pleasure  this  knowledge  gives  me.  I  shall  watch 
your  future  career  with  great  interest,  and  pray  that  it  may  be 
one  of  great  usefulness  to  your  friends  and  to  your  country. 
That  it  may  be  so,  listen  to  the  teachings  of  your  parents,  obey 
their  precepts,  and  from  childhood  to  the  grave  pursue  unswerv 
ingly  the  path  of  honor  and  of  truth.  Above  all  things,  learn  at 
once  to  worship  your  Creator  and  to  do  His  will  as  revealed  in 
His  Holy  Book. 

"  With  much  affection,  I  am  your  sincere  friend, 

(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  August  29,  1866. 

•'  Mrs.  EGBERT  TV ,  Clark  County,  Ind. 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  letter  of  the  22d  inst., 
and  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  kind  feelings  you  express 
toward  the  people  of  the  South.  The  compliment  paid  me  by 


412  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

your  brother-in-law,  Mr.   H ,   is    highly  appreciated,  and  I 

pray  that  his  little  son  may  be  guided  through  life  by  a  merci 
ful  Providence,  and  be  led  into  the  way  of  everlasting  happiness. 
"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  R.  E.  LEE." 

One  day,  on  the  street  in  Lexington,  a  little  girl  of  six 
summers  was  trying  in  vain  to  induce  her  younger  sister  to 
go  home,  when,  seeing  General  Lee  approaching,  she  ap 
pealed  to  him  with  childlike  simplicity :  "  O  general !  Fanny 
won't  go  home — please,  make  her !  " 

The  kind-hearted  old  hero  could  not  resist  this  call  of 
childhood,  but  with  gentle  persuasion  induced  the  little  girl 
to  comply  with  her  sister's  request,  and  trudged  back  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  lead  the  little  ones  by  the  hand,  and  en 
joy  their  innocent  prattle. 

The  superintendent  of  one  of  the  Sunday-schools  of  Lex 
ington  once  offered  a  prize  to  the  scholar  who  should  bring 
into  the  school  by  a  given  time  the  largest  number  of  new 
scholars,  and  the  pastor  of  the  church  urged  that  *hey  should 
not  confine  their  efforts  to  the  children,  but  should  seek  to 
bring  in  the  old  as  well,  since  none  were  too  wise  to  study 
God's  word.  A  boy  of  five  caught  the  spirit  of  the  pastor's 
speech  and  went  after  his  friend  General  Lee,  to  beg  him  to 
"  go  with  me  to  our  Sunday-school  and  be  my  new  scholar." 
The  little  fellow  was  greatly  disappointed  when  told  that  the 
general  attended  another  church,  and  said  with  a  deep  sigh : 
"  I  am  very  sorry.  I  wish  he  belonged  to  our  church,  so  that 
he  could  go  to  our  Sunday-school  and  be  my  new  scholar." 

The  general  was  very  much  amused,  and  kindly  answered 

his  little  friend :  "  Ah  !  C ,  we  must  all  try  to  be  good 

Christians — that  is  the  most  important  thing.  I  can't  go  to 
your  Sunday-school  to  be  your  new  scholar  to-day.  But  I 
am  very  glad  that  you  asked  me.  It  shows  that  you  are 
zealous  in  a  good  cause,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  continue  to 
be  so  as  you  grow  up. 

"  And  I  do  not  want  you  to  think  that  I  consider  my- 


HIS  LOVE  FOK  CHILDREN.  413 

self  too  old  to  be  a  Sunday-school  scholar.     !N~o  one  ever  be 
comes  too  old  to  study  the  precious  truths  of  the  Bible." 

This  last  remark  was  evidently  intended  for  several  of 
the  college  students  who  were  near  by  and  listening  with 
deep  interest  to  the  colloquy  between  the  general  and  the 
young  recruiting  officer  of  the  Sunday-school  army. 

He  knew  all  of  the  children  in  Lexington,  and  along  the 
roads  and  by-paths  of  his  daily  rides,  and  it  was  pleasing  to 
witness  their  delight  when  they  met  him. 

lie  could  be  seen  at  any  time  stopping  on  the  streets  to 
kiss  some  bright-eyed  little  girl,  or  pass  a  joke  with  some 
sprightly  boy. 

One  of  these  was  accustomed  to  go  to  the  chapel-service 
frequently  and  sit  by  the  general,  who  treated  him  so  cor 
dially  and  kindly  as  to  make  him  feel  entirely  at  his  ease, 
and  give  him  the  idea  that  wherever  he  saw  General  Lee  his 
place  was  by  his  side. 

Accordingly,  at  the  next  college  commencement,  the  little 
fellow  stole  away  from  his  mother,  and,  before  she  was  aware 
of  it,  was  on  the  platform,  sitting  at  the  general's  feet,  gazing 
up  into  his  face,  utterly  oblivious  of  the  crowd,  and  entirely 
unconscious  that  he  was  out  of  place.  After  remaining  in 
this  position  for  some  time,  receiving  an  occasional  kind 
word  from  General  Lee,  he  went  fast  to  sleep,  resting  his 
head  on  the  general's  knees.  The  great  man  remained  in 
one  position  for  a  long  time,  and  put  himself  to  considerable 
inconvenience  and  discomfort  that  he  might  not  disturb  the 
sleeping  child.  A  distinguished  lady  present  remarked  that 
"this  picture  of  helpless  innocence  confidingly  resting  on 
greatness  formed  a  subject  worthy  of  the  greatest  artist." 

At  the  Healing  Springs  in  1868  General  Lee  was  one  day 
sitting  in  the  parlor,  conversing  with  a  number  of  ladies  and 

children  who  had  assembled  to  see  him,  when  Frank  S , 

a  bright  little  fellow  from  Richmond,  ran  in  from  a  romp  on 
the  lawn.  Seeing  a  foot  conveniently  crossed,  and  belonging 
to  a  kind-looking  old  gentleman,  he,  without  further  cere- 


4U  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

mony,  mounted  it  for  his  horse,  and  began  to  ride  in  ap 
proved  boy-fashion,  to  the  no  small  amusement  of  the  com 
pany  and  annoyance  of  the  mother,  who  feared  that  General 
Lee  would  be  displeased  with  so  unwarrantable  a  liberty. 
But  the  general  was  delighted,  and,  after  suffering  the  little 
fellow  to  ride  to  his  heart's  content,  took  him  in  his  lap,  and 
sought  an  introduction  to  the  mother  of  his  "  merry  little 
friend." 

In  the  summer  of  1867  General  Lee,  accompanied  by  one 
of  his  daughters,  rode  on  horseback  from  Lexington  to  the 
Peaks  of  Otter.  In  a  mountain-defile,  not  far  from  a  hum 
ble  home,  they  came  suddenly  upon  some  children  who  were 
playing  near  the  road,  and  who  began  to  scamper  off  on  his 
approach.  General  Lee  called  them  back,  and  asked : 

"  Why  are  you  running  away  ?     Are  you  afraid  of  me  ? " 
"  Oh,  no,  sir! "  replied  a  little  girl,  "we  are  not  afraid  of 
you,  but  we  are  not  dressed  nice  enough  to  see  you:' 
"  Why,  who  do  you  think  I  am  ? " 
:c  You  are  General  Lee — we  knew  you  by  your  picture." 
The  admiration  and  love  of  the  children  for  General  Lee 
was  not  confined  to  those  who  met  him.    But  his  pictures  are 
in  every  home  in  the  South,  and  the  children  of  city  and 
mountain  alike  were  taught  to  love  him  when  living,  and  are 
now  taught  to  cherish  and  revere  his  memory.     The  writer 
has  never  seen  children  manifest  more  sincere  grief  at  the 
death  of  a  near  relative  than  that  exhibited  by  the  children 
of  Lexington  at  the  death  of  General  Lee. 

The  schools  were  all  closed,  their  usual  sports  were  aban 
doned,  and  the  children  mingled  their  tears  with  those  of 
strong  men  and  women,  as  they  realized  that  their  kind, 
dearly-loved  friend  had  gone  from  among  them.  And  all 
over  the  South  the  weeping  little  ones  attested  how  they 
loved  the*  great  chieftain  who  always  had  a  pleasant  smile 
and  a  kind  word  for  them. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

HIS    CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER. 

BUT  I  must  pass  by  many  other  points  of  General  Lee's 
character,  and  speak  of  him,  in  conclusion,  as  a  Christian. 

In  this  age  of  hero-worship  there  is  a  tendency  to  exalt 
unduly  the  virtues  of  great  men,  and  to  magnify  the  reli 
gious  character  of  one  professing  to  be  a  Christian.  This  is 
so  well  understood  that  there  may  be  with  those  who  never 
came  in  contact  with  this  great  man  a  lingering  doubt  as  to 
the  genuineness  of  his  piety — a  fear  that,  with  him  as  with 
so  many  others,  his  profession  of  religion  was  merely  nomi 
nal.  A  few  incidents,  culled  from  the  many  that  might  be 
given,  will  serve  to  dissipate  any  such  impression,  and  to 
show  beyond  all  cavil  that,  with  General  Lee,  vital  godliness 
was  a  precious  reality. 

I  can  never  forget  my  first  interview  and  conversation 
with  General  Lee  on  religious  matters.  It  was  in  1863,  while 
our  army  was  resting  along  the  Rapidan,  soon  after  the 
Gettysburg  campaign.  Rev.  B.  T.  Lacy  and  myself  went,  as 
a  committee  of  our  chaplain's  association,  to  consult  him  in 
reference  to  the  better  observance  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  army, 
and  especially  to  urge  that  something  be  done  to  prevent  ir 
religious  officers  from  converting  Sunday  into  a  grand  gala- 
day  for  inspections,  reviews,  etc.  It  was  a  delicate  mission. 
We  did  not  wish  to  appear  as  either  informers  or  officious 
intermeddlers,  and  yet  we  were  very  anxious  to  do  something 
to  further  the  wishes  of  those  who  sent  us,  and  to  put  a  stop 


416  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

to  what  was  then  a  growing  evil,  and,  in  some  commands,  a 
serious  obstacle  to  the  efficient  work  of  the  chaplain.  The 
cordial  greeting  which  he  gave  us,  the  marked  courtesy  and 
respect  with  which  he  listened  to  what  we  had  to  say.  and 

J.  J  7 

expressed  his  warm  sympathy  with  the  object  of  our  mission, 
soon  put  us  at  our  ease.  But,  as  we  presently  began  to  an 
swer  his  questions  concerning  the  spiritual  interests  of  the 
army,  and  to  tell  of  that  great  revival  which  was  then  ex 
tending  through  the  camps,  and  bringing  thousands  of  our 
noble  men  to  Christ,  we  saw  his  eye  brighten  and  his  whole 
countenance  glow  with  pleasure ;  and  as,  in  his  simple,  feeling 
words,  he  expressed  his  delight,  we  forgot  the  great  warrior, 
and  only  remembered  that  we  were  communing  with  a  hum 
ble,  earnest  Christian.  When  Mr.  Lacy  told  him  of  the  deep 
interest  which  the  chaplains  felt  in  his  welfare,  and  that  their 
most  fervent  prayers  were  offered  in  his  behalf,  tears  started 
in  his  eyes,  as  he  replied :  "  I  sincerely  thank  you  for  that, 
and  I  can  only  say  that  I  am  a  poof  sinner,  trusting  in 
Christ  alone,  and  that  I  need  all  the  prayers  you  can  offer 
for  me." 

The  next  day  he  issued  a  beautiful  address,  in  which 
he  referred  to  his  previous  orders  enjoining  the  observ 
ance  of  the  Sabbath — ordered  that  nothing  should  be  done 
on  the  Lord's  Day  not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  subsist 
ence  or  safety  of  the  army,  directed  that  every  facility 
should  be  given  for  religious  services,  and  urged  upon  of 
ficers  and  men  regular  attendance  upon  such  services.  He 
always  set  the  example  himself,  and  never  failed  to  attend 
preaching  when  his  duties  did  not  absolutely  preclude  his 
doing  so.  ISTor  was  he  a  mere  listless  attendant.  The  simple 
truths  of  the  Gospel  had  no  more  attentive  listener  than  Gen 
eral  Lee  ;  and  his  eye  would  kindle  and  his  face  glow  under 
the  more  tender  doctrines  of  grace.  He  used  frequently  to 
attend  preaching  at  Jackson's  headquarters ;  and  it  was  a 
scene  which  a  master-hand  might  have  delighted  to  paint — 
those  two  great  warriors,  surrounded  by  hundreds  of  their 


HIS  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  417 

officers  and  men,  bowed  in  humble  worship  before  the  God 
and  Saviour  in  whom  they  trusted. 

General  Lee  always  took  the  deepest  interest  in  the  work 
of  his  chaplains  and  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  men.  He 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  chaplains'  meetings,  and  a 
deeply-interested  observer  of  their  proceedings  ;  and  the 
faithful  chaplain  who  stuck  to  his  post  and  did  his  duty 
could  be  always  assured  of  a  warm  friend  at  headquarters. 

While  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  confronted  Gen 
eral  Meade  at  Mine  Run,  near  the  end  of  November,  1863, 
and  a  battle  was  momentarily  expected,  General  Lee,  with  a 
number  of  general  and  staff  officers,  was  riding  down  his  line 
of  battle,  when,  just  in  rear  of  General  A.  P.  Hill's  position, 
the  cavalcade  suddenly  came  upon  a  party  of  soldiers  en 
gaged  in  one  of  those  prayer-meetings  which  they  so  often 
held  on  the  eve  of  battle.  An  attack  from  the  enemy 
seemed  imminent — already  the  sharp-shooting  along  the  skir 
mish-line  had  begun — the  artillery  was  belching  forth  its 
hoarse  thunder,  and  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  great  chieftain 
were  full  of  the  expected  combat.  Yet,  as  he  saw  those 
ragged  veterans  bowed  in  prayer,  he  instantly  dismounted, 
uncovered  his  head,  and  devoutly  joined  in  the  simple  wor 
ship.  The  rest  of  the  party  at  once  followed  his  example, 
and  those  humble  privates  found  themselves  leading  the  de 
votions  of  their  loved  and  honored  chieftains. 

It  is  related  that,  as  his  army  was  crossing  the  James,  in 
1864,  and  hurrying  on  to  the  defense  of  Petersburg,  General 
Lee  turned  aside  from  the  road,  and,  kneeling  in  the  dust, 
devoutly  joined  a  minister  present  in  earnest  prayer  that 
God  would  give  him  wisdom  and  grace  in  the  new  stage  of 
the  campaign  upon  which  he  was  then  entering. 

Rev.  Dr.  T.  Y.  Moore  gave  the  following  in  his  memo 
rial  sermon : 

"  About  the  middle  of  the  war,  when  the  horizon  looked 
very  dark,  I  spent  an  evening  with  him,  at  the  house  of  a 
friend,  and  he  was  evidently,  in  spite  of  his  habitual  self- 
27 


4:18  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Command,  deeply  depressed.  Happening  to  be  alone  with 
him  as  we  parted  for  the  night,  I  endeavored  to  cheer  him 
with  the  fact  that  so  many  Christian  people  were  praying 
for  him.  I  shall  never  forget  the  emphasis  with  which  he 
grasped  my  hand,  as,  with  a  voice  and  eye  that  betrayed 
deep  emotion,  he  assured  me  that  it  was  not  only  his  com 
fort,  but  his  only  comfort,  and  declared  the  simple  and  abso 
lute  trust  that  he  had  in  God,  and  God  alone,  as  his  helper 
in  that  terrible  struggle.  Another  incident  impressed  me 
still  more,  because  it  brought  out  a  most  beautiful  trait  in 
his  character.  No  one  ever  rendered  him  a  service,  however 
humble,  that  was  not  instantly  and  gratefully  acknowledged, 
however  lowly  the  person  might  be.  During  the  summer 
of  1864,  after  he  had  been  holding  at  bay  the  tremendous 
forces  of  General  Grant  for  long  weeks,  retreating  step  by 
step  as  he  was  outflanked  by  overwhelming  numbers,  until 
he  reached  the  neighborhood  of  Cold  Harbor,  I  had  occasion 
to  render  him  a  slight  service,  so  slight  that,  knowing  at  the 
time  that  he  was  sick,  and  overburdened  with  the  great  re 
sponsibilities  of  his  arduous  and  continually-menaced  posi: 
tion,  I  never  expected  it  to  be  acknowledged  at  all ;  but,  to 
my  surprise,  I  received  a  letter  thanking  me  for  this  trivial 
service,  and  adding :  <  I  thank  you  especially  that  I  have  a 
place  in  your  prayers.  No  human  power  can  avail  us  with 
out  the  blessing  of  God,  and  I  rejoice  to  know  that,  in  this 
crisis  of  our  affairs,  good  men  everywhere  are  supplicating 
Him  for  His  favor  and  protection.'  He  then  added  a  post 
script,  which  most  touchingly  exhibited  his  thoughtful  and 
tender  recollection  of  the  troubles  of  others,  even  in  that 
hour  when  all  his  thoughts  might  be  supposed  to  be  absorbed 
by  his  vast  responsibilities  as  the  leader  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia." 

Not  long  before  the  evacuation  of  Petersburg,  a  chaplain 
was  one  day  distributing  tracts  along  the  trenches,  when  he 
perceived  a  brilliant  cavalcade  approaching.  General  Lee — 
accompanied  by  General  John  B.  Gordon,  General  A.  P.  Hill, 


HIS   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  419 

and  other  general  officers,  with  their  staffs — was  inspecting 
our  lines  and  reconnoitring  those  of  the  enemy.  The  keen 
eye  of  Gordon  recognized  and  his  cordial  grasp  detained  the 
humble  tract-distributor,  as  he  warmly  inquired  about  his 
work.  General  Lee  at  once  reined  in  his  horse  and  joined 
in  the  conversation,  the  rest  of  the  party  gathered  around, 
and  the  humble  colporteur  thus  became  the  centre  of  a  group 
of  whose  notice  the  highest  princes  of  the  earth  might  well 
be  proud.  General  Lee  asked  if  he  ever  had  calls  for  prayer- 
books,  and  said  that  if  he  would  call  at  his  headquarters  he 
would  give  him  some  for  distribution — that  "a  friend  in 
Richmond  had  given  him  a  new  prayer-book,  and,  upon  his 
saying  that  he  would  give  his  old  one,  that  he  had  used  ever 
since  the  Mexican  "War,  to  some  soldier,  the  friend  had  offered 
him  a  dozen  new  books  for  the  old  one,  and  he  had,  of  course, 
accepted  so  good  an  offer,  and  now  had  twelve  instead  of  one 
to  give  away."  He  called  at  the  appointed  hour.  The  gen 
eral  had  gone  out  on  some  important  matter,  but  even  amid 
his  pressing  duties  had  left  the  prayer-books  with  a  member 
of  his  staff,  with  instructions  concerning  them.  He  had 
written  on  the  fly-leaf  of  each,  "  Presented  by  R.  E.  Lee," 
and  we  are  sure  that  those  of  the  gallant  men  to  whom  they 
were  given  who  survive  the  war  now  cherish  them  as  pre 
cious  legacies,  and  will  hand  them  down  as  heirlooms  to 
their  descendants. 

General  Lee's  orders  and  reports  always  gratefully  recog 
nized  "  the  Lord  of  hosts "  as  the  "  Giver  of  victory,"  and 
expressed  a  humble  dependence  upon  and  trust  in  Him. 

He  thus  began  his  dispatch  to  the  President  the  evening 
of  his  great  victory  at  Cold  Harbor  and  Games' s  Mill. 

44  HEADQUARTERS,  June  27,  1862. 
"  His  Excellency  President  DAVIS. 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  :  Profoundly  grateful  to  Almighty  God  for 
the  signal  victory  granted  to  us,  it  is  my  pleasing  task  to  an« 
nounce  to  you  the  success  achieved  by  this  army  to-day." 


1:20  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

His  beautiful  general  order  of  congratulation  to  the 
troops  on  their  series  of  splendid  victories  during  the  seven 
days'  battles  opened  with  these  memorable  words : 

"  General  Order  No.  75. 

"HEADQUARTERS,  IN  THE  FIELD,  July  7,  1862. 

"  The  commanding  general,  profoundly  grateful  to  the  Giver 
of  all  victory  for  the  signal  success  with  which  He  has  blessed 
our  arms,  tenders  his  warmest  thanks  and  congratulations  to  the 
army  by  whose  valor  such  splendid  results  have  been  achieved." 

His  dispatch,  announcing  his  great  victory  at  Fredericks- 
burg,  contains  the  brief  but  significant  sentence,  "  Thanks 
le  to  God." 

The  following  extracts,  from  an  order  which  he  issued  to 
the  troops  not  long  after  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  show 
the  same  spirit : 

"  General  Order  No.  132. 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  December  31,  1862. 
"  The  general  commanding  takes  this  occasion  to  express  to 
the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army  his  high  appreciation  of 
the  fortitude,  valor,  and  devotion,  displayed  by  them,  which 
under  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  have  added  the  victory  of 
Fredericksburg  to  the  long  list  of  their  triumphs.  .  .  .  That  this 
great  result  was  achieved  with  a  loss  small  in  point  of  numbers 
only  augments  the  admiration  with  which  the  commanding  gen 
eral  regards  the  prowess  of  the  troops,  and  increases  his  grati 
tude  to  Him  who  hath  given  us  the  victory.  .  .  .  The  signal 
manifestations  of  Divine  Mercy  that  have  distinguished  the 
eventful  and  glorious  campaign  of  the  year  just  closing  give 
assurance  of  hope  that  under  the  guidance  of  the  same  Almighty 
hand  the  coining  year  will  be  no  less  fruitful  of  events  that  will 
insure  the  safety,  peace,  and  happiness  of  our  beloved  country, 
and  add  new  lustre  to  the  already  imperishable  name  of  the 

Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

"R  E.  LEE,  General." 


HIS  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  421 

In  his  dispatch  to  President  Davis,  after  Chancellorsville, 
lie  said :  "  We  have  again  to  thank  Almighty  God  for  a  great 
victory." 

And  in  his  general  orders  to  his  troops  he  holds  this  sig 
nificant  language :"....  While  this  glorious  victory  enti 
tles  you  to  the  praise  and  gratitude  of  the  nation,  we  are 
especially  called  upon  to  return  our  grateful  thanks  to  the 
only  Giver  of  victory  for  the  signal  deliverance  He  has 
wrought. 

"  It  is,  therefore,  earnestly  recommended  that  the  troops 
unite,  on  Sunday  next,  in  ascribing  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts 
the  glory  due  unto  his  name." 

He  announced  the  victory  at  Winchester  in  the  following 
characteristic  dispatch : 

"June  15,  1863. 
"  To  His  Excellency  JEFFERSON  DAVIS  : 

"  God  has  again  crowned  the  valor  of  our  troops  with  suc 
cess.  Early's  division  stormed  the  enemy's  intrenchments  at 
Winchester,  capturing  their  artillery,  etc.  R.  E.  LEE." 

His  order  requiring  the  observance  of  the  fast-day  ap 
pointed  by  President  Davis  in  August,  1863,  was  as  follows : 

"  General  Order  No.  83. 
"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  August  13,  1863. 

"  The  President  of  the  Confederate  States  has,  in  the  name 
of  the  people,  appointed  the  21st  day  of  August  as  a  day  of 
fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer.  A  strict  observance  of  the  day 
is  enjoined  upon  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  this  army.  All  mili 
tary  duties,  except  such  as  are  absolutely  necessary,  will  be  sus 
pended.  The  commanding  officers  of  brigades  and  regiments 
are  requested  to  cause  divine  services,  suitable  to  the  occasion, 
to  be  performed  in  their  respective  commands. 

"  Soldiers !  we  have  sinned  against  Almighty  God.  We 
have  forgotten  his  signal  mercies,  and  have  cultivated  a  re 
vengeful,  haughty,  and  boastful  spirit.  We  have  not  remem 
bered  that  the  defenders  of  a  just  cause  should  be  pure  in  his 


i22  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

eyes ;  that  '  our  times  are  in  his  hands ; '  arid  we  have  relied 
too  much  on  our  own  arms  for  the  achievement  of  our  indepen 
dence.  God  is  our  only  refuge  and  our  strength.  Let  us  humble 
ourselves  before  Him.  Let  us  confess  our  many  sins,  and  be 
seech  Him  to  give  us  a  higher  courage,  a  purer  patriotism,  and 
more  determined  will ;  that  He  will  convert  the  hearts  of  our 
enemies ;  that  He  will  hasten  the  time  when  war,  with  its  sor 
rows  and  sufferings,  shall  cease,  and  that  He  will  give  us  a  name 
and  place  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

"R.  E.  LEE,  General." 

We  can  never  forget  the  effect  produced  by  the  reading 
of  this  order  at  the  solemn  services  of  that  memorable  fast- 
day.  A  precious  revival  was  already  in  progress  in  many  of 
the  commands.  The  day  was  almost  universally  observed  ; 
the  attendance  upon  preaching  and  other  services  wras  very 
large ;  the  solemn  attention  and  starting  tear  attested  the 
deep  interest  felt ;  and  the  work  of  grace  among  the  troops 
widened  and  deepened,  and  went  gloriously  on  until  there 
had  been  at  least  fifteen  thousand  professions  of  faith  in 
Christ  as  a  personal  Saviour.  How  far  these  grand  results 
were  due  to  this  fast-day,  or  to  the  quiet  influence  and  fer 
vent  prayers  of  the  commanding  general,  eternity  alone  shall 
reveal. 

When  General  Meade  crossed  the  Rapidan  in  November, 
1863,  the  troops  were  stirred  by  the  following  address: 

"  General  Order  No.  102. 
"HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  November  26,  1863. 

"  The  enemy  is  again  advancing  upon  our  capital,  and  the 
country  once  more  looks  to  this  army  for  protection.  Undei 
the  blessings  of  God,  your  valor  has  repelled  every  previous  at 
tempt,  and,  invoking  the  continuance  of  his  favor,  we  cheerfullj 
commit  to  Him  the  issue  of  the  coming  conflict. 

"  A  cruel  enemy  seeks  to  reduce  our  fathers  and  our  mothers, 
our  wives  and  our  children,  to  abject  slavery  ;  to  strip  them  of 
their  property,  and  drive  them  from  their  homes.  Upon  you 


HIS   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  423 

these  helpless  ones  rely  to  avert  these  terrible  calamities,  and 
secure  them  the  blessing  of  liberty  and  safety.  Your  past  his 
tory  gives  them  the  assurance  that  their  trust  will  not  be  in 
vain.  Let  every  man  remember  that  all  he  holds  dear  depends 
upon  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duty,  and  resolve  to  fight,  and, 
if  need  be,  to  die,  in  defense  of  a  cause  so  sacred,  and  worthy  the 
name  won  by  this  army  on  so  many  bloody  fields. 

(Signed)  "  R  E.  LEE,  General." 

We  give  the  following,  as  illustrating  not  only  his  trust 
in  God,  but  also  his  tender  solicitude  for  his  soldiers  : 

'•'•General  Order  No.  7. 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  January  22,  1864. 

"  The  commanding  general  considers  it  due  to  the  army  to 
state  that  the  temporary  reduction  of  rations  has  been  caused 
by  circumstances  beyond  the  control  of  those  charged  with 
its  support.  Its  welfare  and  comfort  are  the  objects  of  his 
constant  and  earnest  solicitude ;  and  no  effort  has  been  spared 
to  provide  for  its  wants.  It  is  hoped  that  the  exertions  now 
being  made  will  render  the  necessity  of  short  duration ;  but  the 
history  of  the  army  has  shown  that  the  country  can  require  no 
sacrifice  too  great  for  its  patriotic  devotion. 

"  Soldiers  !  you  tread,  with  no  unequal  steps,  the  road  by 
which  your  fathers  marched  through  suffering,  privation,  and 
blood,  to  independence ! 

"  Continue  to  emulate  in  the  future,  as  you  have  in  the  past, 
their  valor  in  arms,  their  patient  endurance  of  hardships,  their 
high  resolve  to  be  free,  which  no  trial  could  shake,  no  bribe  se 
duce,  no  danger  appall ;  and  be  assured  that  the  just  God,  who 
crowned  their  efforts  with  success,  will,  in  his  own  good  time, 
send  down  his  blessings  upon  yours. 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE,  General." 

The  following  was  his  order  for  the  observance  of  the 
fast-day  appointed  for  April,  1864 : 


124:  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  General   Order  No.  23. 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  March  30,  1864. 
"In  compliance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives,  his  Excellency  the  President 
has  issued  his  proclamation  calling  upon  the  people  to  set  apart 
Friday,  the  8th  of  April,  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and 
prayer.  The  commanding  general  invites  the  army  to  join  in 
the  observance  of  the  day.  He  directs  due  preparations  to  be 
made  in  all  departments,  to  anticipate  the  wants  of  the  sev 
eral  commands,  so  that  it  may  be  strictly  observed.  All  mili 
tary  duties,  except  those  that  are  absolutely  necessary,  will  be 
suspended.  The  chaplains  are  desired  to  hold  services  in  their 
regiments  and  brigades.  The  officers  and  men  are  requested  to 
attend. 

"  Soldiers  !  let  us  humble  ourselves  before  the  Lord  our  God, 
asking,  through  Christ,  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins,  beseeching  the 
aid  of  the  God  of  our  forefathers  in  the  defense  of  our  homes 
and  our  liberties,  thanking  Him  for  his  past  blessings,  and  im 
ploring  their  continuance  upon  our  cause  and  our  people. 

"R.  E.  LEE,   General." 

In  his  dispatch  announcing  the  result  of  the  first  day's 
battle  in  the  Wilderness  he  says: 

"...  By  the  blessing  of  God  we  maintained  our  posi 
tion  against  every  effort  until  night,  when  the  contest 
closed.  ..." 

And  in  his  dispatch  concerning  the  advance  of  the  enemy 
on  the  next  day  he  says : 

"  .  .  .  Every  advance  on  his  part,  thanks  to  a  merciful 
God,  has  been  repulsed.  ..." 

He  closes  his  dispatch  concerning  the  first  day  at  Spott- 
sylvania  by  saying,  "  I  am  most  thankful  to  the  Giver  of 
all  victory  that  our  loss  is  small ; "  and  that  concerning  the 
action  of  June  3,  1864,  with  "Our  loss  to-day  has  been 
small,  and  our  success,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  all  that  we 
could  expect.  ..." 


HIS  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  425 

He  closed  his  announcement  of  A.  P.  Hill's  brilliant  vic 
tory  at  Keams's  Station,  in  August,  1864,  by  saying : 

"...  Our  profound  gratitude  is  due  the  Giver  of  all 
victory,  and  our  thanks  to  the  brave  men  and  officers  en 
gaged.  ..." 

In  his  order  assuming  the  command  of  all  of  the  Confed 
erate  forces,  he  said : 

"...  Deeply  impressed  with  the  difficulties  and  respon 
sibility  of  the  position,  and  humbly  invoking  the  guidance 
of  Almighty  God,  I  rely  for  success  upon  the  courage  and 
fortitude  of  the  army,  sustained  by  the  patriotism  and  firm 
ness  of  the  people,  confident  that  their  united  efforts,  under 
the  blessing  of  Heaven,  will  secure  peace  and  indepen 
dence.  ..." 

We  give  the  above  only  as  specimens  of  his  dispatches 
and  general  orders,  which  all  recognized  in  the  most  em 
phatic  manner  his  sense  of  dependence  upon  and  trust  in 
God. 

"With  the  close  of  the  war,  and  the  afflictions  which  came 
upon  his  loved  land,  the  piety  of  this  great  man  seems  to 
have  mellowed  and  deepened,  and  we  could  fill  pages  con 
cerning  his  life  at  Lexington,  and  the  bright  evidence  he 
gave  of  vital,  active  godliness. 

He  was  a  most  regular  attendant  upon  all  of  the  services 
of  his  own  church,  his  seat  in  the  college -chapel  was  never 
vacant  unless  he  was  kept  away  by  sickness,  and  if  there 
was  a  union  prayer-meeting  or  a  service  of  general  interest 
in  any  of  the  churches  of  Lexington,  General  Lee  was  sure 
to  be  among  the  most  devout  attendants. 

His  pew  in  his  own  church  was  immediately  in  front  of 
the  chancel,  his  seat  in  the  chapel  was  the  second  from  the 
pulpit,  and  he  seemed  always  to  prefer  a  seat  near  the  preach 
er's  stand.  He  always  devoutly  knelt  during  prayer,  and 
his  attitude  during  the  entire  service  was  that  of  an  interested 
listener  or  a  reverential  participant. 

He  was  not  accustomed  to  indulge  in  carping  criticisms 


426  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

of  sermons,  but  was  a  most  intelligent  judge  of  what  a  ser 
mon  ought  to  be,  and  always  expressed  his  preference  for 
those  sermons  which  presented  most  simply  and  earnestly 
the  soul-saving  truths  of  the  Gospel.  The  writer  heard  him 
remark  in  reference  to  one  of  the  Baccalaureate  sermons 
preached  at  the  college  :  "  It  was  a  noble  sermon — one  of  the 
very  best  I  ever  heard — and  the  beauty  of  it  was  that  the 
preacher  gave  our  young  men  the  very  marrow  of  the  Gospel, 
and  with  a  simple  earnestness  that  must  have  reached  their 
hearts  and  done  them  good." 

Upon  another  occasion  a  distinguished  minister  had  ad 
dressed  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  the  col 
lege,  and  on  the  next  night  delivered  a  popular  lecture. 
Speaking  of  the  last,  General  Lee  said  :  "  It  was  a  veiy  fine 
lecture,  and  I  enjoyed  it.  But  I  did  not  like  it  as  much  as  I 
did  the  one  before  our  Christian  Association.  That  touched 
our  hearts,  and  did  us  all  good." 

He  had  also  a  most  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  adapta 
tion  of  religious  services  to  particular  occasions,  and  of  the 
appropriateness  of  prayers  to  the  time  and  place  in  which  they 
were  offered. 

He  once  said  to  one  of  the  Faculty  :  "  I  want  you  to  go 

with  me  to  call  upon  Mr. ,  the  new  minister,  who  has  just 

come  to  town.  I  want  to  pay  my  respects  to  him,  and  to 
invite  him  to  take  his  turn  in  the  conduct  of  our  chapel  ex 
ercises,  and  to  do  what  he  can  for  the  spiritual  interests  of 
our  young  men. 

"  And  do  you  think  that  it  would  be  any  harm  for  me  to 

delicately  hint  to  Mr. that  we  would  be  glad  if  he  would 

make  his  morning  prayers  a  little  shwt  f  You  know  oui 

friend is  accustomed  to  make  his  prayers  too  long. 

He  prays  for  the  Jews,  the  Turks,  the  heathen,  the  Chinese, 
and  everybody  else,  and  makes  his  prayers  run  into  the 
regular  hour  for  our  college  recitations.  Would  it  be  wrong 
for  me  to  suggest  to  Mr.  -  -  that  he  confine  his  morning 
prayers  to  us  poor  sinners  at  the  college,  and  pray  for  the 


HIS   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  427 

Turks,  the  Jews,  the  Chinese,  and  the  other  heathen,  some 
other  time  f  " 

The  suggestion  is  one  which  those  who  lead  in  public 
prayer  would  do  well  to  ponder. 

General  Lee  was  emphatically  a  man  of  prayer.  lie  was 
accustomed  to  pray  in  his  family,  and  to  have  his  seasons  of 
secret  prayer,  which  he  allowed  nothing  else,  however  press 
ing,  to  interrupt.  He  was  also  a  constant  reader  and  a  dili 
gent  student  of  the  Bible,  and  had  his  regular  seasons  for  this 
delightful  exercise.  Even  amid  his  most  active  campaigns  he 
found  time  to  read  every  day  some  portion  of  God's  Word. 

As  the  writer  watched  alone  by  his  body  the  day  after  his 
death,  he  picked  up  from  the  table  a  well-used  pocket  Bible, 
in  which  was  written,  in  his  characteristic  chirography,  "  E.  E. 
Lee,  lieutenant-colonel,  U.  S.  Army."  How  he  took  this 
blessed  book  as  the  man  of  his  counsel  and  the  light  of  his 
pathway — how  its  precious  promises  cheered  him  amid  the 
afflictions  and  trials  of  his  eventful  life — how  its  glorious 
hopes  illumined  for  him  "the  dark  valley  and  shadow  of 
death,"  eternity  alone  will  fully  reveal. 

And  he  always  manifested  the  liveliest  interest  in  giving 
to  others  the  precious  Bible.  During  the  war  he  was  an 
active  promoter  of  Bible  distribution  among  his  soldiers,  and 
soon  after  coming  to  Lexington  he  accepted  the  presidency  of 
the  "  Kockbridge  Bible  Society,"  and  continued  to  discharge 
its  duties  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  We  give  his  letter 
accepting  this  office : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  I  have  delayed  replying  to  your  letter  inform 
ing  me  of  my  having  been  elected  President  of  the  '  Rockbridge 
Bible  Society,'  not  for  want  of  interest  in  the  subject,  but  from 
an  apprehension  that  I  should  not  be  able  to  perform  the  duties 
of  the  position  in  such  manner  as  to  advance  the  high  object 
proposed.  Having,  however,  been  encouraged  by  your  kind  as 
surances,  and  being  desirous  of  cooperating  in  any  way  I  can  in 
extending  the  inestimable  knowledge  of  the  priceless  truths  of 
the  Bible,  I  accept  the  position  assigned  me. 


428  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

"  With  many  thanks  to  the  Society  for  the  high  compliment 
paid  me  by  their  selection  as  president, 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant,- 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE. 

"  Rev.  DR.  PENPLETON,          J 
Colonel  J.  L.  T.  PRESTON,  V  Committee. '» 
Mr.  WILLIAM  WHITE,         ) 

The  following  paper  may  be  appropriately  introduced 
here : 

"  At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Rock- 
bridge  County  Bible  Society,  on  the  12th  inst.,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  imparting  to  the  organization  greater  efficiency,  in 
addition  to  other  important  measures  adopted,  and  in  sub 
stance  since  published,  the  undersigned  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  prepare  and  publish  a  minute  expressing  the 
deep  sense  which  the  managers  and  members  of  this  Society 
have  of  the  exalted  worth  of  their  last  president,  the  illustri 
ous  General  R.  E.  Lee — of  the  blessed  influence  which  he 
exerted  as  a  Christian  man,  and  in  his  official  relation  to  this 
cause,  and  of  the  grievous  loss  to  us  in  his  removal  even  to 
celestial  joy. 

"  The  duty  is  to  us  most  grateful.  World- wide  and  en 
during  as  must  be  the  renown  of  our  honored  friend,  for 
great  abilities,  grandeur  of  character,  and  achievements,  per 
haps,  in  proportion  to  appliances  never  surpassed,  his  crown 
ing  glory  was,  in  our  view,  the  sublime  simplicity  of  his 
Christian  faith  and  life.  To  the  inviolable  dignity  of  a  soul 
among  the  noblest  of  all  history  was  in  him  thoroughly 
united  that  guileless,  unpretending,  gentle  and  yet  earnest 
spirit  of  a  little  child  so  emphatically  designated  by  our 
Lord  as  the  essential  characteristic  of  his  chosen  ones.  These 
were  the  traits  which,  while  they  justly  endeared  him  to 
children,  and  friends,  and  all  the  people,  rendered  him 
prompt  to  every — even  the  humblest— duty,  and  caused  him, 
although  burdened  with  weighty  cares,  to  accept  the  quietly 


HIS   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  429 

useful  task  of  presiding  over  so  inconspicuous  a  good  work 
as  that  of  the  Rockbridge  County  Bible  Society.  Of  the 
judicious  zeal  with  which  he  undertook  this  service,  evidence 
conclusive  was  at  once  given  in  the  wisely  simple  yet  stirring 
appeal  which  he  penned  and  sent  forth  to  the  several  min 
isters  and  congregations  of  the  county,  urging  them  to  re 
newed  energy  in  remedying  Bible  destitution  throughout 
our  borders.  Well  may  the  friends  of  this  cause  mourn  the 
loss  of  such  a  leader,  and  record  on  the  tablets  of  their  hearts 
an  example  so  good,  as  an  incentive  to  their  own  efficiency 
for  the  future ! 

"  In  connection  with  this  testimonial  of  the  Society's  lov 
ing  estimate  of  their  last  president,  the  undersigned  were 
instructed  to  cause  to  be  published  the  appeal  above  referred 
to,  written  by  General  Lee's  own  hand,  of  which  copies  were 
at  the  time  sent  to  all  the  ministers  and  congregations  of  the 
county.  The  original  remains  a  precious  memento  in  the 
archives  of  the  Society.  To  it,  as  hereunto  subjoined  in 
print,  we  ask  the  attentive  consideration  due  alike  to  its 
great  author  and  to  the  important  cause  for  which  he  pleads. 
Facts  and  principles  bearing  on  the  question  are  to-day  very 
much  as  they  were  five  years  ago,  when  the  mind  of  this 
great  and  good  man  was  moved  so  impressively  to  put  them 
forth  in  the  following  circular. 

"Although  now  resting  from  his  labors,  his  works  do 
follow  him       Shall  they  not,  in  this  and  in  other  forms, 
effectually  plead  with  all  to  be  alive  to  Christian  privilege  in 
this  matter,  and  faithful  to  duty  therein  and  in  all  things  ? 
""W.  N.  PENDLETON,  \ 

J.  L.  CLARKE,          >•  Committee" 

J.  W.  PKATT,  J 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  January  14,  1869. 

"  The  Rockbridge  County  Bible  Society,  whose  operations 
were  interrupted  and  records  lost  during  the  war,  was  reorgan 
ized  on  the  5th  of  last  October  by  representatives  of  different 


430  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

churches  of  the  county,  in  pursuance  of  a  notice  given  through  the 
Lexington  Gazette.  A  new  constitution  was  adopted,  which 
provided  for  the  reorganization  of  a  board  of  managers  com 
posed  of  the  ministers  of  each  church  and  one  representative 
from  each  congregation  appointed  by  them,  to  meet  at  least 
once  a  year,  on  the  first  Saturday  in  October ;  and  that  the 
officers  of  the  Society  shall  be  a  president,  vice-president,  secre 
tary  and  treasurer,  and  librarian,  who  shall  constitute  the  Execu 
tive  Committee  of  the  Society. 

"At   the    meeting   mentioned   the   following   officers   were 
elected : 

"  R  E.  LEE,  President ; 

J.  T.  L.  PRESTON,  Vice-President; 

WILLIAM  G.  WHITE,  Secretary  and  Treasurer ; 

JOHN  S.  WHITE,  Librarian. 

"  In  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  meeting  requesting 
the  Executive  Committee  to  take  measures  to  procure  a  supply 
of  Bibles  and  to  obtain  from  the  congregations  of  the  county 
funds  for  the  purpose,  it  is  respectfully  requested  that  you  will 
make  at  the  earliest  and  most  suitable  occasion  a  collection  in 
your  congregation  for  this  object  and  cause,  the  amount  to  be 
transmitted  to  the  treasurer,  Mr.  William  G.  White,  at  Lexing 
ton,  and  inform  him  at  the  same  time,  as  far  as  practicable,  how 
many  copies  of  the  Bible  will  be  required  to  meet  the  wants  of 
the  congregation,  as  the  constitution  provides  that  each  con 
gregation  shall  mainly  conduct  the  work  of  their  distribution 
within  their  respective  spheres. 

"  The  revival  of  the  time-honored  organization  of  the  Rock- 
bridge  Bible  Society,  it  is  believed,  will  fill  with  pleasure  the 
hearts  of  all  good  citizens  in  the  county,  and  the  Executive  Com 
mittee  earnestly  appeal  to  the  churches,  their  members,  and  all 
persons  interested  in  the  great  work  of  the  Society,  to  unite  cor 
dially  and  promptly  with  them  for  its  accomplishment.  The 
first  object  is  to  supply  every  family  with  a  copy  of  the  Bible 
that  is  without  it,  and  as  many  years  have  elapsed  since  there 
has  been  a  distribution  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  among  us,  it  is 
feared,  for  reasons  that  are  apparent,  that  there  is  at  this  time  a 
great  destitution  among  the  people.  The  united  and  zealous 


HIS  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  431 

efforts  of  all  the  denominations  in  the  county   are    therefore 
earnestly  solicited  in  aid  of  this  good  work. 
"  Respectfully  submitted. 

"  R.  E.  LEE,  Pres.  Rockbridge  Bible  Society. 
"  To  the  MINISTERS  and  CHURCHES  of  the  County  of  Rockbridgc,  Va." 

General  Lee  was  also  deeply  interested  in  the  Virginia 
Bible  Society  and  their  noble  work  of  giving  the  Word  of 
God  to  the  people. 

He  wrote  as  follows  to  the  president  of  that  Society  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  5,  1869. 

"  REVEREND  AND  DEAK  SIR  :  Your  letter  of  the  1st  inst.  was 
only  received  this  morning. 

"  To  reach  Richmond  by  to-morrow  evening,  the  anniversary 
of  the  Bible  Society,  I  should  have  to  ride  all  to-night  to  take 
the  cars  at  Staunton  to-morrow  morning.  I  am  suffering  with  a 
cold  now,  and  fear  the  journey  would  lay  me  up. 

"  I  would,  however,  make  the  trial,  did  I  think  I  could  be  of 
any  service  to  the  great  object  of  the  Society.  If  the  managers 
could  suggest  any  plan,  in  addition  to  the  abundant  distribution 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  to  cause  the  mass  of  the  people  to  medi 
tate  on  their  simple  truths,  and,  in  the  language  of  Wilberforce, 
*  to  read  the  Bible — read  the  Bible,'  so  as  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  experience  and  realities  of  religion,  the  greatest  good 
would  be  accomplished. 

"  Wishing  the  Society  all  success,  and  continual  advance 
ment  in  its  work, 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  most  truly  yours,      R.  E.  LEE. 
"  Rev.  GEORGE  WOODBRIDGE,  President  of  the  Virginia  Bible  Society." 

The  following  graceful  acknowledgment  of  a  copy  of 
the  Scriptures  sent  him  by  some  English  ladies  may  be  ap 
propriately  introduced  at  this  point : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  16,  1866. 
"  Hon.  A.  W.  BERESFOKD  HOPE,  Be&gebury  Park,  Kent,  England. 

"I  have  received  within  a  few  days  your  letter  of  November 
14,  1864,  and  had  hoped  that  by  this  time  it  would  have  been 


432  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

followed  by  the  copy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  which  you  refer, 
that  I  might  have  known  the  generous  donors,  whose  names, 
you  state,  are  inscribed  upon  its  pages. 

"Its  failure  to  reach  me  will,  I  fear,  deprive  me  of  that 
pleasure ;  and  I  must  ask  the  favor  of  you  to  thank  them  most 
heartily  for  their  kindness  in  providing  me  with  a  book  in  com 
parison  with  which  all  others  in  my  eyes  are  of  minor  impor 
tance,  and  which  in  all  my  perplexities  and  distresses  has  never 
failed  to  give  me  light  and  strength.  Your  assurance  of  the 
esteem  in  which  I  am  held  by  a  large  portion  of  the  British 
nation,  as  well  as  by  those  for  whom  you  speak,  is  most  grateful 
to  my  feelings,  though  I  am  aware  that  I  am  indebted  to  their 
generous  natures,  and  not  to  my  own  merit,  for  their  good 
opinion. 

"  I  beg,  sir,  that  you  will  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  the 
kind  sentiments  which  you  have  expressed  toward  me,  and  my 
unfeigned  admiration  of  your  exalted  character. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  «R  E.  LEE." 

General  Lee  was  a  most  active  promoter  of  the  interests 
of  his  church,  and  of  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  community, 
and  all  the  pastors  felt  that  they  had  in  him  a  warm  friend. 

He  was  a  most  liberal  contributor  to  his  church  and  to 
other  objects  of  benevolence.  At  the  vestry  meeting,  which 
he  attended,  and  over  which  he  presided,  the  evening  he  was 
taken  with  his  fatal  illness,  an  effort  was  being  made  to  raise 
a  certain  sum  for  an  important  object.  General  Lee  had  al 
ready  made  an  exceedingly  liberal  contribution,  but,  when  it 
was  ascertained  that  fifty-five  dollars  were  still  lacking,  he 
quietly  said,  "  I  will  give  the  balance."  These  were  the  last 
words  he  spoke  in  the  meeting — his  contribution,  his  last 
public  act.  The  writer  happens  to  know  that,  within  the 
last  twelve  months  of  his  life,  he  gave  one  hundred  dollars 
to  the  education  of  soldiers'  orphans,  one  hundred  dollars  to 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  the  college,  and 
smaller  sums  to  a  number  of  similar  objects — making,  in  the 


HIS  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  433 

aggregate,  a  most  liberal  contribution.  And,  then,  his  man 
ner  of  contributing  was  so  modest  and  unostentatious.  In 
giving  the  writer  a  very  handsome  contribution  to  the  Lex 
ington  Baptist  Church,  he  quietly  said :  "  Will  you  do  me 
the  kindness  to  hand  this  to  your  treasurer,  and  save  me  the 
trouble  of  hunting  him  up  ?  I  am  getting  old  now,  and  you 
young  men  must  help  me."  And  his  whole  manner  was  that 
of  one  receiving  instead  of  bestowing  a  favor. 

General  Lee  was  not  accustomed  to  talk  of  any  thing  that 
concerned  himself,  and  did  not  often  speak  freely  of  his 
inner  religious  feelings.  Yet  he  would,  when  occasion 
offered,  speak  most  decidedly  of  his  reliance  for  salvation 
upon  the  merits  of  his  personal  Redeemer,  and  none  who 
heard  him  thus  talk  could  doubt  for  a  moment  that  his  faith 
was  built  on  the  "  Rock  of  Ages." 

He  one  day  said  to  a  friend,  in  speaking  of  the  duty  of 

laboring  for  the  good  of  others :  "  Ah !  Mrs.  P ,  I  find  it 

so  hard  to  keep  one  poor  sinner's  heart  in  the  right  way,  that 
it  seems  presumptuous  to  try  to  help  others."  And  yet  he 
did,  quietly  and  unostentatiously,  speak  "  a  word  in  season," 
and  exert  influences  potent  for  good  in  directing  others  in 
the  path  to  heaven.  He  was  a  "  son  of  consolation  "  to  the 
afflicted,  and  his  letter-book  contains  some  touching  illustra 
tions  of  this.  "We  give  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
written  to  an  afflicted  mother  on  the  death,  by  drowning,  of 
her  son  (then  a  student  at  the  college) : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  6,  1868. 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM  :  It  grieves  me  to  address  you  on  a  sub 
ject  which  has  already  been  announced  to  you  in  all  of  its  woe, 
and  which  has  brought  to  your  heart  such  heavy  affliction. 

"  But  I  beg  to  be  permitted  to  sympathize  in  your  great  sor 
row,  and  to  express  to  you  on  the  part  of  the  Faculty  of  the  col 
lege  their  deep  grief  at  the  calamity  which  has  befallen  you.  It 
may  be  some  consolation  in  your  bereavement  to  know  that  your 
son  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  officers  and  students  of  the  col 
lege,  and  that  this  whole  community  unite  in  sorrow  at  his  un- 
28 


i34  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

timely  death.  May  God  in  his  mercy  support  you  under  this 
grievous  trial,  and  give  you  that  peace  which,  as  it  passeth  all  un 
derstanding,  so  nothing  in  this  world  can  diminish  or  destroy  it." 

On  the  death  of  Bishop  Elliott,  of  Georgia,  he  wrote  the 
following  letter  to  the  widow  : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  21,  1867. 

"Mr  DEAR  MRS.  ELLIOTT:  It  would  be  in  vain  for  me  to  at 
tempt  to  express  my  grief  at  your  great  affliction.  In  common 
with  the  whole  country  I  mourn  the  death  of  him  whom,  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I  have  admired,  loved,  and 
venerated,  and  whose  loss  to  the  church  and  society  where  his 
good  offices  were  so  important  I  can  never  expect  to  see  supplied. 

"  You  have  my  deepest  sympathy,  and  my  earnest  prayers 
are  offered  to  Almighty  God  that  He  may  be  graciously  pleased 
to  comfort  you  in  your  great  sorrow,  and  to  bring  you  in  his  own 
good  time  to  rejoice  with  him  whom,  in  his  all-wise  providence, 
He  has  called  before  you  to  heaven. 

"  With  great  respect,  most  truly  yours,       R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  to  the  widow  of  his  cherished  friend,  Gen 
eral  George. TV".  Randolph  (for  a  time  Confederate  Secretary 
of  War),  will  be  read  with  mournful  pleasure  by  the  large 
circle  of  admirers  and  friends  of  this  gifted  and  widely- 
lamented  Virginian : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  April  11,  1867. 
**  Mrs.  MART  RANDOLPH. 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  RANDOLPH  :  The  letter  I  received  this  morn 
ing  from  your  niece  affords  me  an  opportunity  of  writing  to  you 
on  a  subject  over  which  I  deeply  mourn.  But  it  is  the  survivors 
of  the  sad  event  whom  I  commiserate,  and  not  him  whom  a  gra 
cious  God  has  called  to  himself,  and  whose  tender  heart  and  do 
mestic  virtues  make  the  pang  of  parting  the  more  bitter  to  those 
who  are  left  behind.  I  deferred  writing,  for  I  knew  the  hope 
lessness  of  offering  you  consolation ;  and  yet,  for  what  other  pur 
pose  can  a  righteous  man  be  summoned  into  the  presence  of  a 
.merciful  God  than  to  receive  his  reward  ?  However,  then,  we  la- 


HIS   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  435 

ment,  we  ought  not  to  deplore  him  or  wish  him  back  from  his 
peaceful,  happy  home.  I  had  hoped  to  have  seen  him  once  more 
in  this  world,  and  had  been  pleasing  myself  with  the  prospect 
of  paying  him  a  special  visit  this  summer.  But  God,  in  mercy 
to  him,  has  ordered  otherwise,  and  I  submit. 

"  The  recollection  of  his  esteem  and  friendship  will  always 
be  dear  to  me,  and  his  kind  remembrance  in  his  long  and  painful 
illness  will  be  gratefully  cherished.  His  worth  and  truth,  his 
unselfish  devotion  to  right,  and  exalted  patriotism,  will  cause  all 
good  men  to  mourn  the  country's  loss  in  his  death,  while  his 
gentle,  manly  courtesy,  dignified  conduct,  and  Christian  charity, 
must  intensely  endear  him  to  those  who  knew  him. 

"  Mrs.  Lee  and  my  daughters,  while  they  join  in  unfeigned 
sorrow  for  your  bereavement,  unite  with  me  in  sincere  regards 
and  fervent  prayers  to  him  who  can  alone  afford  relief,  for  his 
gracious  support  and  continued  protection  to  you.  May  his 
abundant  mercies  be  showered  upon  you,  and  may  his  almighty 
arm  guide  and  uphold  you! 

"  Please  thank  Miss  Randolph  for  writing  to  me.  • 

"  With  great  respect  and  true  affection,  your  most  obedient 
servant, 

(Signed)  "  R.  E.  LEE." 

The  following  expresses  a  great  deal  in  brief  compass : 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  February  28,  1870. 
"  Mr.  SAMUEL  R.  GEORGE,  71  Mt.  Vernon  Place,  Baltimore,  Md. 

"  MY  DEAE  SIR  :  I  have  learned,  with  deep  regret,  the  great 
sorrow  that  has  befallen  you,  and  sincerely  sympathize  in  your 
overwhelming  grief;  but  the  great  God  of  heaven  takes  us  at  the 
period  when  it  is  best  for  us  to  go,  and  we  can  only  gratefully 
acknowledge  his  mercy  and  try  to  be  resigned  to  his  will.  Every 
beat  of  our  hearts  marks  our  progress  through  life,  and  admon 
ishes  us  of  the  steps  we  make  toward  the  grave.  We  are  thus 
every  moment  reminded  to  prepare  for  our  summons.  With  my 
earnest  sympathy  for  yourself  and  kindest  regards  to  your  chil 
dren,  in  which  Mrs.  Lee  and  my  daughters  unite, 

"  I  am  most  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 


i36  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.    LEE. 

The  friendship  between  General  Lee  and  the  venerable 
Bishop  Meade,  of  Virginia  (whose  efficient  labors  in  the  cause 
of  evangelical  piety  were  widely  known  and  appreciated  even 
outside  of  his  own  communion),  was  touchingly  beautiful, 
and  the  following  letter  will  be  read  with  peculiar  interest : 

"  LEXINGTON,  VA.,  March  7,  1866. 
"  St.  Rev.  JOHN  JOHNS,  Bishop  of  Virginia,  Theo_  ) 
logical  Seminary,  near  Alexandria,  VOL.  \ 

"  RT.  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  very  glad  to  learn  from  your 
note  of  the  27th  ult.  that  you  have  consented  to  write  a  memoir 
of  our  good  and  beloved  Bishop  Meade.  Of  all  the  men  I  have 
ever  known,  I  consider  him  the  purest ;  and  a  history  of  his 
character  and  life  will  prove  a  benefit  to  mankind.  No  one  can 
portray  that  character  or  illustrate  that  life  better  than  yourself ; 
and  I  rejoice  that  the  sacred  duty  has  devolved  upon  you. 

"  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  will  state  as  far  as  my 
recollection  enables  me  the  substance  of  what  occurred  in  the 
short  interview  I  had  with  him  the  evening  before  his  death ; 
and  I  do  so  the  more  readily  as  you  were  present  and  can  cor 
rect  the  inaccuracies  of  my  memory.  I  received  a  message 
about  dark  that  the  bishop  was  very  ill,  and  desired  to  see  me. 
On  entering  his  room  he  recognized  me  at  once,  and,  extending 
his  hand,  said  that  his  earthly  pilgrimage  was  nearly  finished, 
and  that  before  the  light  of  another  day  he  should  have  passed 
from  this  world ;  that  he  had  known  me  in  childhood,  when  I 
recited  to  him  the  church  catechism,  taught  me  by  my  mother 
before  I  could  read ;  that  his  affection  and  interest  began  at 
that  time,  and  strengthened  by  my  marriage  with  his  God-child, 
and  continued  to  the  present.  Invoking  upon  me  the  guidance 
and  protection  of  Almighty  God,  he  bade  me  a  last  farewell. 

"  With  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Johns  and  your  daughters, 

"  I  am  most  truly  yours, 
(Signed)  "R.  E.  LEE." 

A  clergyman  present,  in  describing  this  last  interview, 
states  that  the  bishop  said  to  the  great  soldier :  "  God  bless 
you !  God  bless  you,  Eobert,  and  fit  you  for  your  high  and 


HIS   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  437 

responsible  duties !  I  can't  call  you  '  general ; '  I  must  call 
you  *  Robert ; '  I  have  heard  you  your  catechism  too  often." 

General  Lee  was  deeply  affected  by  the  interview,  and, 
when  he  turned  to  leave  the  room,  the  bishop,  much  ex 
hausted  and  with  great  emotion,  took  him  by  the  hand  and 
said  :  "  Heaven  bless  you !  Heaven  bless  you,  and  give  you 
wisdom  for  your  important  and  arduous  duties." 

On  the  death  of  Randolph  Fairfax,  who  fell  at  Fred- 
ericksburg,  struck  down  by  a  fragment  of  the  same  shell  that 
mortally  wounded  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lewis  Minor  Coleman 
(the  Christian  soldier,  accomplished  scholar,  and  peerless 
gentleman)  and  Arthur  Robinson  (a  grandson  of  William 
Wilt),  General  Lee,  who  highly  appreciated  the  manly  vir 
tues  of  this  young  soldier  of  the  cross,  wrote  the  following 
letter  to  his  bereaved  father : 

"  CAMP  FREDERICKSBURG,  December  28,  1862. 

"MY  DEAR  DOCTOR:  I  have  grieved  most  deeply  at  the 
death  of  you  noble  son.  I  have  watched  his  conduct  from  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  and  have  pointed  with  pride  to  the 
patriotism,  self-denial,  and  manliness  of  character  he  has  exhib 
ited.  I  had  hoped  that  an  opportunity  would  occur  for  the  pro 
motion  he  deserved ;  not  that  it  would  have  elevated  him,  but 
have  shown  that  his  devotion  to  duty  was  appreciated  by  his 
country. 

"  Such  an  opportunity  would  undoubtedly  have  occurred ;  but 
he  has  been  translated  to  a  better  world,  for  which  his  purity 
and  piety  eminently  fitted  him.  You  do  not  require  to  be  told 
how  great  is  his  gain.  It  is  the  living  for  whom  I  sorrow.  I 
beg  you  will  offer  to  Mrs.  Fairfax  and  your  daughter  my  heartr 
felt  sympathy,  for  I  know  the  depth  of  their  grief.  That  God 
may  give  you  and  them  strength  to  bear  this  great  affliction,  is 
the  earnest  prayer  of 

"  Your  early  friend,  R.  E.  LEE. 

"  Dr.  ORLANDO  FAIRFAX,  Richmond." 

On  the  death  of  his  personal  friend,  George  Peabody, 
General  Lee  wrote  the  following  to  Mr.  Peabody  Russell : 


138  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBEliT  E.  LEE. 

"LEXINGTON,  VA.,  November  10,  1869. 

"  MY  DEAR  ME.  RUSSELL  :  The  announcement  of  the  death 
of  your  uncle,  Mr.  George  Peabody,  has  been  received  with  the 
deepest  regret  wherever  his  name  and  benevolence  are  known  ; 
and  nowhere  have  his  generous  deeds,  restricted  to  no  country, 
section,  or  sect,  elicited  more  heart-felt  admiration  than  at  the 
South. 

"  He  stands  alone  in  history  for  the  benevolent  use  and  ju 
dicious  distribution  of  his  great  wealth,  and  his  memory  has 
become  justly  entwined  in  the  affections  of  millions  of  his  fel 
low-citizens  in  both  hemispheres. 

"  I  beg  in  my  own  behalf,  and  in  behalf  of  the  trustees  and 
Faculty  of  Washington  College,  Virginia,  which  has  not  been 
forgotten  by  him  in  his  acts  of  generosity,  to  tender  our  un 
feigned  sorrow  at  his  death. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R  E.  LEE." 

Upon  the  death  of  Professor  Frank  Preston,  of  William 
and  Mary  College,  General  Lee  issued  the  following  an 
nouncement  : 

"  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE,  November  23,  1869. 

"  The  death  of  Professor  Frank  Preston,  a  distinguished 
graduate,  and  late  Assistant  Professor  of  Greek  in  this  college, 
has  caused  the  deepest  sorrow  in  the  hearts  of  the  Faculty  and 
members  of  the  institution. 

"  Endowed  with  a  mind  of  rare  capacity,  which  had  been 
enriched  by  diligent  study  and  careful  cultivation,  he  stood 
among  the  first  in  the  State  in  his  pursuit  in  life. 

"  We  who  so  long  and  so  intimately  possessed  his  acquaint 
ance,  and  so  fully  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  his  companionship, 
feel  especially  his  loss,  and  grieve  profoundly  at  his  death ;  and 
we  heartily  sympathize  with  his  parents  and  relatives  in  theii 
great  affliction,  and  truly  participate  in  the  deep  sorrow  thai 
has  befallen  them. 

"  With  a  view  of  testifying  the  esteem  felt  for  his  character 
and  the  respect  due  to  his  memory,  all  academic  exercises  will 
be  suspended  for  the  day ;  and  the  Faculty  and  students  are 


HIS  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  439 

requested  to  attend,  in  their  respective  bodies,  his  funeral  ser 
vices  at  the  Presbyterian  Church,  at  eleven  o'clock,  to  pay  the 
last  sad  tribute  of  respect  to  his  earthly  remains,  while  cherish 
ing  in  their  hearts  his  many  virtues. 

"R.  E.  LEE,  President." 

The  above  was  written,  currente  calamo,  immediately  on 
his  hearing  of  the  death  of  Professor  Preston,  whom  he  most 
highly  esteemed,  not  only  as  an  accomplished  scholar  and 
high-toned  gentleman,  but  as  one  who  had  been  a  gallant 
Confederate  soldier,  and  wore  till  his  death  a  badge  of  honor 
in  the  "  empty  sleeve  "  that  hung  at  his  side. 

We  also  give  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  Rev. 
Dr.  Moses  D.  Hoge,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Richmond, 
soon  after  the  death  of  his  wife.  After  writing  of  a  number 
of  matters  connected  with  the  interests  of  the  Virginia  Bible 
Society,  he  concludes  as  follows  : 

"  And  now,  my  dear  sir,  though  perhaps  inappropriate  to 
the  occasion,  you  must  allow  me  to  refer  to  a  subject  which  has 
caused  me  great  distress,  and  concerning  which  I  have  desired 
to  write  ever  since  its  occurrence  ;  but,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  have 
not  had  the  heart  to  do  so.  I  knew  how  powerless  I  was  to 
give  any  relief,  and  ho\v  utterly  inadequate  was  any  language 
that  I  could  use  even  to  mitigate  your  suffering. 

"  I  could,  therefore,  only  offer  up  my  silent  prayers  to  him 
who  alone  can  heal  your  bleeding  heart;  that  in  his  infinite 
mercy  He  would  be  ever  present  with  you  to  dry  your  tears  and 
stanch  your  wounds ;  to  sustain  you  by  his  grace,  and  support 
you  by  his  strength. 

"  I  hope  you  felt  assured  that,  in  this  heavy  calamity,  you 
and  your  children  had  the  heart-felt  sympathy  of  Mrs.  Lee  and 
myself,  and  that  you  were  daily  remembered  in  our  prayers. 

"  With  our  best  wishes  and  sincere  affection, 

"  I  am  very  truly  yours,  R.  E.  LEE." 

Extracts  of  the  same  character  could  be  multiplied,  but 
the  above  must  suffice. 


£40  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

General  Lee  manifested  the  deepest  concern  for  the  spir 
itual  welfare  of  the  young  men  under  his  care.  Soon  after 
becoming  president  of  Washington  College,  he  said,  with 
deep  feeling,  to  Rev.  Dr.  White,  then  the  venerable  pastor 
of  the  Lexington  Presbyterian  Church :  "  I  shall  be  disap 
pointed,  sir — I  shall  fail  in  the  leading  object  that  brought 
me  here,  unless  these  young  men  become  real  Christians; 
and  I  wish  you,  and  others  of  your  sacred  profession,  to  do 
all  you  can  to  accomplish  this." 

Rev.  Dr.  Brown,  editor  of  the  Central  Presbyterian,  and 
one  of  the  trustees  of  Washington  and  Lee  University,  says, 
in  his  paper : 

"  The  crowning  excellence  of  such  men  as  Jackson  and 
Lee  was  their  sincere  Christian  piety.  The  remark  made  by 
General  Lee  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  White  was  made  to  us  upon 
another  occasion  in  a  form  even  more  emphatic.  ( I  dread,' 
said  he,  '  the  thought  of  any  student's  going  away  from  the 
college  without  becoming  a  sincere  Christian.' " 

At  the  beginning  of  each  session  of  the  college  he  was 
accustomed  to  address  an  autograph  letter  to  the  pastors  of 
Lexington,  inviting  them  to  arrange  for  conducting  in  turn 
the  regular  chapel  services  of  the  college,  asking  them  to  in 
duce  the  students  to  attend  their  several  churches,  Bible- 
classes,  etc.,  and  urging  them  to  do  all  in  their  power  for  the 
spiritual  good  of  the  students.  Not  content  with  this  general 
request,  he  was  accustomed  to  prepare  lists  of  students  who 
belonged  themselves  to,  or  whose  families  were  connected 
with,  particular  churches,  and  to  hand  these  to  the  several 
pastors,  with  the  earnestly-expressed  wish  that  they  would 
consider  these  young  men  under  their  especial  watch-care, 
and  give  them  every  attention  in  their  power ;  and  he  would 
frequently  ask  a  pastor  after  individual  students — whethei 
they  belonged  to  his  Bible-class,  were  regular  in  their  attend 
ance  at  church,  etc. 

General  Lee  did  not  believe  in  enforced  religion,  and 
never  required  the  students,  by  any  college-law,  to  attend 


HIS  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  441 

chapel  or  church,  but  he  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  in 
fluence  them  to  do  so,  and  with  the  largest  success. 

At  the  "  Concert  of  Prayer  for  Colleges,"  in  Lexington, 
in  1869,  a  pastor  present  made  an  address  in  which  he  urged 
that  the  great  need  of  our  colleges  was  a  genuine,  pervasive 
revival — that  this  could  only  come  from  God  ;  and  that,  in 
asmuch  as  He  has  promised  his  Holy  Spirit  to  those  who  ask 
him,  we  should  make  special  prayer  for  a  revival  in  the  col 
leges  of  the  country,  and  more  particularly  in  Washington 
College  and  the  Virginia  Military  Institute.  At  the  close  of 
the  meeting,  General  Lee  went  to  him  and  said,  with  more 
than  his  usual  warmth :  "  I  wish,  sir,  to  thank  you  for  your 
address  ;  it  was  just  what  we  needed.  Our  great  want  is  a 
revival  which  will  bring  these  young  men  to  Christ." 

During  the  great  revival  in  the  Virginia  Military  Insti 
tute  in  1869,  he  said  to  his  pastor :  "  That  is  the  best  news  I 
have  heard  since  I  have  been  in  Lexington.  Would  that  we 
could  have  such  a  revival  in  all  of  our  colleges  ! "  Rev.  Dr. 
Kirkpatrick,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  Washington 
College,  relates  the  following  concerning  a  conversation  he 
had  with  General  Lee  just  a  short  time  previous  to  his  fatal 
illness :  "  We  had  been  conversing  for  some  time  respecting 
the  religious  welfare  of  the  students.  General  Lee's  feel 
ings  then  became  so  intense  that  for  a  time  his  utterance  was 
choked ;  but,  recovering  himself,  with  his  eyes  overflowed 
with  tears,  his  lips  quivering  with  emotion,  and  both  hands 
raised,  he  exclaimed,  f  O  doctor  !  if  I  could  only  know  that 
all  the  young  men  in  the  college  were  good  Christians,  ] 
should  have  nothing  more  to  desire.' " 

General  Lee  was  deeply  interested  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  of  the  college,  and  seemed  highly  grat 
ified  at  its  large  measure  of  success.  His  letter,  in  reply  to 
one  making  him  an  honorary  member  of  the  Association, 
was  as  follows : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  announcing  my 
election  as  an  honorary  member  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 


442  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

Association  of  Washington  College,  a  society  in  whose  pros 
perity  I  take  the  deepest  interest,  and  for  the  welfare  of  whose 
members  my  prayers  are  daily  offered.  Please  present  my 
grateful  thanks  to  your  Association  for  the  honor  conferred 
on  me,  and  believe  me, 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"R.  E.  LEE. 

"  Mr.  A.  N.  GORDON,  Corresponding  Secretary 

"  Young  Men's  Christian  Association." 

Rev.  Dr  Brantly,  of  Baltimore,  and  Bishop  Marvin,  of 
Missouri,  who  staid  at  his  house  during  the  college  com 
mencement  of  18TO,  both  speak  of  the  warm  gratification 
which  General  Lee  expressed  at  the  encouraging  report  of 
the  religious  interest  among  the  students. 

General  Lee  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
was  sincerely  attached  to  the  Church  of  his  choice ;  but  his 
large  heart  took  in  Christians  of  every  name ;  he  treated 
ministers  of  all  denominations  with  the  most  marked  cour 
tesy  and  respect ;  and  it  may  be  truly  said  of  him  that  he 
had  a  heart  and  hand  "  ready  to  every  good  work."  When 
once  asked  his  opinion  of  a  certain  theological  question,  which 
was  exciting  considerable  discussion,  he  replied :  "  Oh  !  I 
never  trouble  myself  about  such  questions ;  my  chief  con 
cern  is  "to  try  to  be  a  humble,  earnest  Christian  myself." 

An  application  of  a  Jewish  soldier  for  permission  to 
attend  certain  ceremonies  of  his  synagogue  in  Richmond  was 
indorsed  by  his  captain:  "Disapproved.  If  such  applica 
tions  were  granted,  the  whole  army  would  turn  Jews  or 
shaking  Quakers."  When  the  paper  came  to  General  Lee, 
he  indorsed  on  it :  "  Approved,  and  respectfully  returned  to 

Captain ,  with  the  advice  that  he  should  always  respect 

the  religious  views  and  feelings  of  others." 

The  following  letters,  addressed  to  a  prominent  rabbi  of 
Richmond  (to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  copies),  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  broad  charity  of  this  model  Christian  : 


HIS   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  4-13 

"HEADQUARTERS,  VALLEY  MT.,  August  29,  1861. 
"  Ralli  M.  J.  MICHELBACHER,  Preacher  Hebrew  Con- ) 
gregation,  House  of  Love,  Richmond.,  Va.  ) 

"  REV.  Sin  :  I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  23d  inst., 
requesting  that  a  furlough  from  the  3d  to  the  15th  of  Septem 
ber  be  granted  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Jewish  persuasion  in  the 
Confederate  States  Army,  that  they  may  participate  in  the  ap 
proaching  holy  services  of  the  synagogue.  It  would  give  me 
great  pleasure  to  comply  with  a  request  so  earnestly  urged  by 
you,  and  which,  I  know,  would  be  so  highly  appreciated  by 
that  class  of  our  soldiers.  But  the  necessities  of  war  admit  of 
no  relaxation  of  the  efforts  requisite  for  its  success,  nor  can  it  be 
known  on  what  day  the  presence  of  every  man  may  be  required. 
I  feel  assured  that  neither  you  nor  any  member  of  the  Jewish 
congregation  would  wish  to  jeopardize  a  cause  you  have  so  much 
at  heart  by  the  withdrawal  even  for  a  season  of  its  defenders. 
I  cannot,  therefore,  grant  the  general  furlough  you  desire,  but 
must  leave  it  to  individuals  to  make  their  own  applications  to 
their  several  commanders,  in  the  hope  that  many  will  be  able  to 
enjoy  the  privilege  you  seek  for  them.  Should  any  be  deprived 
of  the  opportunity  of  offering  up  their  prayers  according  to  the 
rites  of  their  Church,  I  trust  that  their  penitence  may  neverthe 
less  be  accepted  by  the  Most  High,  and  their  petitions  answered. 
That  your  prayers  for  the  success  and  welfare  of  our  cause  may 
be  answered  by  the  Great  Ruler  of  the  universe,  is  my  ardent 
wish. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  high  esteem,  your  ob't  servant, 
"  R.  E.  LEE,  General  commanding." 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  April  2,  1863. 
"  M.  J.  MICHELBACHER,  Minister  of  Hebrew  ) 
Congregation,  Richmond,  Va.  ) 

"  SIB  :  It  will  give  me  pleasure  to  comply  with  the  request 
contained  in  your  letter  of  the  30th  ult.,  as  far  as  the  public 
interest  will  permit.  But  I  think  it  more  than  probable  that 
the  army  will  be  engaged  in  active  operations,  when,  of  course, 
no  one  \vould  wish  to  be  absent  from  its  ranks,  nor  could  they 
in  that  event  be  spared.  The  reports  from  all  quarters  show 


444  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

that  General  Hooker's  army  is  prepared  to  cross  the  Rappahan- 
nock,  and  only  awaits  favorable  weather  and  roads. 

"  The  sentence  in  the  case  of  Isaac  Arnold  has  been  sus 
pended,  until  the  decision  of  the  President  shall  be  known. 
Thanking  you  very  sincerely  for  your  good  wishes  in  behalf  of 
our  country,  I  remain,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant,         R  E.  LEE." 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  September  20,  1864. 
"  Rev.  M.  J.  MICHELBACHER,  Richmond,  Va. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  15th  inst.,  asking 
that  furloughs  may  be  granted  to  the  Israelites  in  the  army, 
from  September  30th  to  October  llth,  to  enable  them  to  repair 
to  Richmond  to  observe  the  holy  days  appointed  by  the  Jewish 
religion. 

"  It  would  afford  me  much  pleasure  to  comply  with  your 
request  did  the  interests  of  the  service  permit ;  but  it  is  impos 
sible  to  grant  a  general  furlough  to  one  class  of  our  soldiers 
without  recognizing  the  claims  of  others  to  a  like  indulgence. 
I  can  only  grant  furloughs  on  applications  setting  forth  special 
grounds  for  them,  or  in  accordance  with  the  general  orders  on 
that  subject  applicable  to  all  the  army  alike. 

"  I  will  gladly  do  all  in  my  power  to  facilitate  the  observance 
of  the  duties  of  their  religion  by  the  Israelites  in  the  army,  and 
will  allow  them  every  indulgence  consistent  with  safety  and 
discipline.  If  their  applications  be  forwarded  to  me  in  the 
usual  way,  and  it  appears  that  they  can  be  spared,  I  will  be 
glad  to  approve  as  many  of  them  as  circumstances  will  permit. 
Accept  my  thanks  for  your  kind  wishes  for  myself,  and  believe 

me  to  be, 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  R.  E.  LEE."     , 

This  characteristic  was  noted  by  all  who  came  in  contact 
with  him,  and  not  a  few  will  cordially  echo  the  remark  of 
the  venerable  Dr.  White,  who  said,  with  deep  feeling,  dur 
ing  the  funeral  services:  "He  belonged  to  one  branch  of 
the  Church,  and  I  to  another ;  yet,  in  my  intercourse  with 


HIS  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  445 

him — an  intercourse  rendered  far  more  frequent  and  inti 
mate  by  the  tender  sympathy  he  felt  in  my  ill  health — the 
thought  never  occurred  to  me  that  we  belonged  to  different 
Churches.  His  love  for  the  truth,  and  for  all  that  is  good 
and  useful,  was  such  as  to  render  his  brotherly  kindness 
and  charity  as  boundless  as  were  the  wants  and  sorrows  of 
his  race." 

It  were  an  easy  task  to  write  pages  more  in  illustration 
of  the  Christian  character  of  our  great  leader ;  but  want  of 
space  forbids. 

If  I  have  ever  come  in  contact  with  a  sincere,  devout 
Christian — one  who,  seeing  himself  to  be  a  sinner,  trusted 
alone  in  the  merits  of  Christ,  who  humbly  tried  to  walk 
the  path  of  duty,  "  looking  unto  Jesus  "  as  the  author  and 
finisher  of  his  faith,  and  whose  piety  constantly  exhibited 
itself  in  his  daily  life — that  man  was  General  R.  E.  LEE. 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 

HIS    DEATH  AND   FUNERAL    OBSEQUIES. 

ALTHOUGH  a  resident  of  Lexington  at  the  time,  and 
fully  acquainted  with  all  the  circumstances  of  the  sickness, 
death,  and  funeral  obsequies  of  General  Lee,  I  deem  myself 
fortunate  in  being  able  to  present  the  following  account 
from  the  graceful  pen  of  Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston, 
whose  intimacy  with  our  illustrious  chief,  added  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  an  almost  constant  watcher  at  his  dying  bedside, 
will  add  a  peculiar  interest  to  the  narrative  which  he  has 
kindly  prepared  for  this  volume. 

"  DEATH    OF    GENERAL    LEE. 

"  The  death  of  General  Lee  was  not  due  to  any  sudden 
cause,  but  was  the  result  of  agencies  dating  as  far  back  as 
1863.  In  the  trying  campaign  of  that  year,  he  contracted 
a  severe  sore-throat,  that  resulted  in  rheumatic  inflammation 
of  the  sac  inclosing  the  heart.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
after  this  sickness  his  health  was  always  more  or  less  im 
paired  ;  and,  although  he  complained  little,  yet  rapid  exer 
cise  on  foot  or  on  horseback  produced  pain  and  difficulty 
of  breathing.  In  October,  1869,  he  was  again  attacked  by 
inflammation  of  the  heart-sac,  accompanied  by  muscular 
rheumatism  of  the  back,  right  side,  and  arms.  The  action 
of  the  heart  was  weakened  by  this  attack ;  the  flush  upon 
the  face  was  deepened,  the  rheumatism  increased,  and  he  was 
troubled  with  weariness  and  depression. 


HIS  DEATH  AND  FUNERAL  OBSEQUIES.  447 

"  Iii  March,  1870,  General  Lee,  yielding  to  the  solicita 
tions  of  friends  and  medical  advisers,  made  a  six  weeks' 
visit  to  Georgia  and  Florida.  He  returned  greatly  benefited 
by  the  influence  of  the  genial  climate,  the  society  of  friends 
in  those  States,  and  the  demonstrations  of  respect  and  affec 
tion  of  the  people  of  the  South ;  his  physical  condition, 
however,  was  not  greatly  improved.  During  this  winter  and 
spring  he  had  said  to  his  son,  General  Custis  Lee,  that  his 
attack  was  mortal ;  and  had  virtually  expressed  the  same  be 
lief  to  other  trusted  friends.  And  now,  with  that  delicacy 
that  pervaded  all  his  actions,  he  seriously  considered  the 
question  of  resigning  the  presidency  of  Washington  Col 
lege,  '  fearful  that  he  might  not  be  equal  to  his  duties.' 
After  listening,  however,  to  the  affectionate  remonstrances 
of  the  Faculty  and  board  of  trustees,  who  well  knew  the 
value  of  his  wisdom  in  the  supervision  of  the  college,  and 
the  power  of  his  mere  presence  and  example  upon  the  stu 
dents,  he  resumed  his  labors  with  the  resolution  to  remain 
at  his  post  and  carry  forward  the  great  work  he  had  so  auspi 
ciously  begun. 

"  During  the  summer  he  spent  some  weeks  at  the  Hot 
Springs  of  Virginia,  using  the  baths,  and  came  home  seem 
ingly  better  in  health  and  spirits.  He  entered  upon  the  du 
ties  of  the  opening  collegiate  year  in  September  with  that 
quiet  zeal  and  noiseless  energy  that  marked  all  his  actions, 
and  an  unusual  elation  was  felt  by  those  about  him  at  the 
increased  prospect  that  long  years  of  usefulness  and  honor 
would  yet  be  added  to  his  glorious  life. 

"Wednesday,  the  28th  of  September,  1870,  found  Gen 
eral  Lee  at  the  post  of  duty.  In  the  morning  he  was  fully 
occupied  with  the  correspondence  and  other  tasks  incident 
to  his  office  of  President  of  Washington  College,  and  he  de 
clined  offers  of  assistance  from  members  of  the  Faculty,  of 
whose  services  he  sometimes  availed  himself.  After  dinner, 
at  four  o'clock,  he  attended  a  vestry-meeting  of  Grace  (Epis 
copal)  Church.  The  afternoon  was  chilly  and  wet,  and  a 


448  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

steady  rain  had  set  in,  which  did  not  cease  until  it  resulted 
in  a  great  flood,  the  most  memorable  and  destructive  in  this 
region  for  a  hundred  years.  The  church  was  rather  cold 
and  damp,  and  General  Lee,  during  the  meeting,  sat  in  a 
pew  with  his  military  cape  cast  loosely  about  him.  In  a 
conversation  that  occupied  the  brief  space  preceding  the 
call  to  order,  he  took  part,  and  told,  with  marked  cheerful 
ness  of  manner  and  kindliness  of  tone,  some  pleasant  anec 
dotes  of  Bishop  Meade  and  Chief-Justice  Marshall.  The 
meeting  was  protracted  until  after  seven  o'clock,  by  a  discus 
sion  touching  the  rebuilding  of  the  church  edifice  and  the 
increase  of  the  rector's  salary.  General  Lee  acted  as  chair 
man,  and,  after  hearing  all  that  was  said,  gave  his  own 
opinion,  as  was  his  wont,  briefly  and  without  argument.  He 
closed  the  meeting  with  a  characteristic  act.  The  amount 
required  for  the  minister's  salary  still  lacked  a  sum  much 
greater  than  General  Lee's  proportion  of  the  subscription, 
in  view  of  his  frequent  and  generous  contributions  to  the 
church  and  other  charities ;  but  just  before  the  adjournment, 
when  the  treasurer  announced  the  amount  of  the  deficit 
still  remaining,  General  Lee  said,  in  a  low  tone  :  c  I  will  give 
that  sum.'  He  seemed  tired  toward  the  close  of  the  meet 
ing,  and,  as  was  afterward  remarked,  showed  an  unusual 
flush,  but  at  the  time  no  apprehensions  were  felt. 

"General  Lee  returned  to  his  house,  and,  finding  his 
family  waiting  tea  for  him,  took  his  place  at  the  table, 
standing  to  say  grace.  The  effort  was  vain,  the  lips  could 
not  utter  the  prayer  of  the  heart.  Finding  himself  unable 
to  speak,  he  took  his  seat  quietly  and  without  agitation. 
His  face  seemed  to  some  of  the  anxious  group  about  him  to 
wear  a  look  of  sublime  resignation,  and  to  evince  a  full 
knowledge  that  the  hour  had  come  when  all  the  cares  and 
anxieties  of  his  crowded  life  were  at  an  end.  His  physi 
cians,  Drs.  II.  T.  Barton  and  K.  L.  Madison,  arrived 
promptly,  applied  the  usual  remedies,  and  placed  him  upon 
the  couch  from  which  he  was  to  rise  no  more.  To  him 


HIS  DEATH  AND  FUNERAL  OBSEQUIES.  449 

henceforth  the  things  of  this  world  were  as  nothing,  and  he 
bowed  with  resignation  to  the  command  of  the  Master  he 
had  followed  so  long  with  reverence. 

"  The  symptoms  of  his  attack  resembled  concussion  of  the 
brain,  without  the  attendant  swoon.  There  was  marked 
debility,  a  slightly  impaired  consciousness,  and  a  tendency  to 
doze ;  out  no  paralysis  of  motion  or  sensation,  and  no  evidence 
of  softening  or  inflammation  of  the  brain.  His  physicians 
treated  the  case  as  one  of  venous  congestion,  and  with 
apparently  favorable  results.  Yet,  despite  these  propitious 
auguries  drawn  from  his  physical  symptoms,  in  view  of  the 
great  mental  strain  he  had  undergone,  the  gravest  fears  were 
felt  that  the  attack  was  mortal.  He  took  without  objection 
the  medicines  and  diet  prescribed,  and  was  strong  enough  to 
turn  in  bed  without  aid,  and  to  sit  up  to  take  nourishment. 
During  the  earlier  days  of  his  illness,  though  inclined  to  doze, 
he  was  easily  aroused,  was  quite  conscious  and  observant, 
evidently  understood  whatever  was  said  to  him,  and  answered 
questions  briefly  but  intelligently ;  he  was,  however,  averse 
to  much  speaking,  generally  using  monosyllables*  as  had 
always  been  his  habit  when  sick.  "When  first  attacked,  he 
said  to  those  who  were  removing  his  clothes,  pointing  at  the 
same  time  to  his  rheumatic  shoulder,  <  You  hurt  my  arm.' 
Although  he  seemed  to  be  gradually  improving  until  October 
10th,  he  apparently  knew  from  the  first  that  the  appointed 
hour  had  come  when  he  must  enter  those  dark  gates  that, 
closing,  reopen  no  more  to  earth.  In  the  words  of  his 
physician,  'he  neither  expected  nor  desired  to  recover.' 
When  General  Custis  Lee  made  some  allusion  to  his  recovery, 
he  shook  his  head  and  pointed  upward.  -On  the  Monday 
morning  before  his  death,  Dr.  Madison,  finding  him  looking 
better,  tried  to  cheer  him :  '  How  do  you  feel  to-day, 
general  ? '  General  Lee  replied,  slowly  and  distinctly :  '  I 
feel  better.1  The  doctor  then  said :  '  You  must  make  haste 
and  get  well;  Traveler  has  been  standing  so  long  in  the 
stable  that  he  needs  exercise.'  The  general  made  no  reply, 
29 


450  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

but  slowly  shook  his  head  and  closed  his  eyes.  Several  times 
during  his  illness  he  put  aside  his  medicine,  saying,  *  It  is 
of  no  use ; '  but  yielded  patiently  to  the  wishes  of  his 
physicians  or  children,  as  if  the  slackened  chords  of  being 
still  responded  to  the  touch  of  duty  or  affection. 

"  On  October  10th,  during  the  afternoon,  his  pulse  be 
came  feeble  and  rapid,  and  his  breathing  hurried,  with  other 
evidences  of  great  exhaustion.  About  midnight  he  was 
seized  with  a  shivering  from  extreme  debility,  and  Dr. 
Barton  felt  obliged  to  announce  the  danger  to  the  family. 
On  October  llth,  he  was  evidently  sinking ;  his  respiration 
was  hurried,  and  his  pulse  feeble  and  rapid.  Though  less 
observant,  he  still  recognized  whoever  approached  liim,  but 
refused  to  take  any  thing  unless  presented  by  his  physicians. 
It  now  became  certain  that  the  case  was  hopeless.  His  de 
cline  was  rapid,  yet  gentle ;  and  soon  after  nine  o'clock,  on 
the  morning  of  October  12th,  he  closed  his  eyes,  and  his  soul 
passed  peacefully  from  earth. 

"  General  Lee's  physicians  attributed  his  death  in  great 
measure 'to  moral  causes.  The  strain  of  his  campaigns,  the 
bitterness  of  defeat  aggravated  by  the  bad  faith  and  insolence 
of  the  victor,  sympathy  with  the  subsequent  sufferings  of  the 
Southern  people,  and  the  effort  at  calmness  under  these 
accumulated  sorrows,  seemed  the  sufficient  and  real  causes 
that  slowly  but  steadily  undermined  General  Lee's  health 
and  led  to  his  death.  Yet  to  those  who  saw  his  composure 
under  the  greater  and  lesser  trials  of  life,  and  his  justice  and 
forbearance  with  the  most  unjust  and  uncharitable,  it  seemed 
scarcely  credible  that  his  serene  soul  was  shaken  by  the  evil 
that  raged  around  him. 

u  General  Lee's  closing  hours  were  consonant  with  his 
noble  and  disciplined  life.  Never  was  more  beautifully  dis 
played  how  a  long  and  severe  education  of  mind  and  charac 
ter  enables  -the  soul  to  pass  with  equal  step  through  this 
supreme  ordeal ;  never  did  the  habits  and  qualities  of  a  life 
time,  solemnly  gathered  into  a  few  last  sad  hours,  more 


HIS  DEATH  AND   FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  451 

grandly  maintain  themselves  amid  the  gloom  and  shadow  of 
approaching  death.  The  reticence,  the  self-contained  com 
posure,  the  obedience  to  proper  authority,  the  magnanimity, 
and  the  Christian  meekness,  that  marked  all  his  actions,  still 
preserved  their  sway,  in  spite  of  the  inroads  of  disease,  and 
the  creeping  lethargy  that  weighed  down  his  faculties. 

"  As  the  old  hero  lay  in  the  darkened  room,  or  with  the 
lamp  and  hearth-fire  casting  shadows  upon  his  calm,  noble 
front,  all  the  massive  grandeur  of  his  form,  and  face,  and 
brow,  remained ;  and  death  seemed  to  lose  its  terrors,  and  to 
borrow  a  grace  and  dignity  in  sublime  keeping  with  the  life 
that  was  ebbing  away.  The  great  mind  sank  to  its  last 
repose,  almost  with  the  equal  poise  of  health.  The  few 
broken  utterances  that  evinced  at  times  a  wandering  intel 
lect  were  spoken  under  the  influence  of  the  remedies  ad 
ministered  ;  but  as  long  as  consciousness  lasted,  there  was 
evidence  that  all  the  high,  controlling  influences  of  his  whole 
life  still  ruled ;  and  even  when  stupor  was  laying  its  cold 
hand  on  the  intellectual  perceptions,  the  moral  nature,  with 
its  complete  orb  of  duties  and  affections,  still  asserted  itself. 
A  Southern  poet  has  celebrated  in  song  those  last  significant 
words,  6 Strike  the  tent;'  and  a  thousand  voices  were 
raised  to  give  meaning  to  the  uncertain  sound,  when  the  dy 
ing  man  said,  with  emphasis,  *  Tell  Hill  he  must  come  up ! ' 
These  sentences  serve  to  show  most  touchingly  through  what 
fields  the  imagination  was  passing;  but  generally  his  words, 
though  few,  were  coherent ;  but  for  the  most  part  indeed  his 
silence  was  unbroken. 

"  This  self-contained  reticence  had  an  awful  grandeur,  in 
solemn  accord  with  a  life  that  needed  no  defense.  Deeds 
which  required  no  justification  must  speak  for  him.  His 
voiceless  lips,  like  the  shut  gates  of  some  majestic  temple, 
were  closed,  not  for  concealment,  but  because  that  within 
was  holy.  Could  the  eye  of  the  mourning  watcher  have 
pierced  the  gloom  that  gathered  about  the  recesses  of  that 
great  soul,  it  would  have  perceived  a  Presence  there  full  of 


452  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

an  ineffable  glory.  Leaning  trustfully  upon  the  all-sustain 
ing  Arm,  the  man  whose  stature,  measured  by  mortal  stand 
ards,  seemed  so  great,  passed  from  this  world  of  shadows  to 
the  realities  of  the  hereafter. 


11  FUNERAL. 

"  On  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  October  12th,  the 
church-bells  tolled  forth  the  solemn  announcement  that  Gen 
eral  Lee  was  dead.  A  whisper  had  passed  from  lip  to  lip 
that  he  was  sinking ;  and  the  anxious  hearts  of  the  people 
understood  the  signal  of  bereavement.  Without  concert  of 
action,  labor  was  suspended  in  Lexington ;  all  stores,  shops, 
and  places  of  business,  were  closed ;  and  the  exercises  at  the 
college,  Military  Institute,  and  schools,  ceased  without  for 
mal  notice.  Little  children  wept  as  they  went  to  their 
homes ;  the  women  shed  tears  as  if  a  dear  friend  had  gone 
from  among  them ;  and  the  rugged  faces  of  men,  inured  to 
hardship  of  war,  blanched  as  the  sorrowful  word  was  spoken. 
The  courtesies  and  little  kindnesses  that  the  departed  had 
strewed  with  gentle  hand  among  all  classes  of  the  community 
came  back ;  and  memory  recalled  his  stately  form,  not  sur 
rounded  with  the  splendor  of  his  fame,  but  in  the  softer 
light  of  a  dear  neighbor  and  friend  who  had  vanished  from 
sight  forever.  The  sense  of  national  calamity  was  lost  in 
the  tenderer  distress  of  personal  grief.  General  and  heart 
felt  mourning  followed,  and  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  business 
were  not  resumed  until  the  next  week. 

"  In  all  the  Southern  States  the  people  felt  that  the  death 
of  General  Lee  was  a  loss  to  every  community  and  to  each 
individual.  By  a  common  impulse  they  met  in  whatevei 
bodies  they  were  accustomed  to  assemble ;  and  in  mass-meet 
ings,  corporate  bodies,  and  voluntary  societies,  passed  resolu 
tions  and  voted  addresses  of  respect  and  condolence.  The 
pulpit,  the  bar,  the  bench,  the  halls  of  legislation,  municipal 
authorities,  benevolent  associations,  and  all  the  organizations 


GENERAL  LEE'S  OFFICE,  JUST  AS  HE  LEFT  IT. 


HIS  DEATH   AND  FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  453 

through  which  men  perform  the  functions  of  society,  spon 
taneously  offered  tributes  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious 
dead. 

"  The  chosen  orators  of  the  land  came  forward  to  eulogize 
his  fame.  A  whole  people,  who  at  his  counsel  had  borne  in 
silence  five  years  of  accumulated  sufferings,  gave  way  to  sor 
row  at  the  death  of  their  loved  leader ;  but  it  was  a  sorrow 
in  which  tenderness  was  exalted  by  the  dignity  of  the  dead, 
and  the  bereaved  felt  that  they  shared  in  the  heritage  of  an 
undying  name.  It  might  seem  invidious  to  select  from  testi 
monials  so  general  and  so  honorable  any  even  to  serve  as 
illustrations  or  examples  of  the  universal  sorrow ;  but  it  may 
be  said  of  all  that  never  was  the  sense  of  public  calamity 
more  completely  chastened  in  its  expression  by  deep  and  real 
feeling. 

"  The  authorities  of  Washington  College  having  tendered 
to  Mrs.  Lee  the  college  chapel  as  a  burial-place  for  General 
Lee,  the  offer  was  accepted ;  and  1£  o'clock  p.  M.  on  the  14th 
of  October  was  the  time  fixed  on  for  the  removal  of  the  re 
mains  from  the  residence  of  the  deceased  to  the  chapel, 
where  they  were  to  lie  in  state  until  Saturday,  the  15th  of 
October,  the  day  appointed  for  the  burial.  At  the  hour 
named,  the  procession  to  convey  the  body  was  formed  under 
the  charge  of  Professor  J.  J.  White  as  chief -marshal,  aided  by 
assistants  appointed  by  the  students.  The  escort  of  honor  con 
sisted  of  Confederate  soldiers,  marshaled  by  the  Hon.  J.  K.  Ed- 
mondson,  late  colonel  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Virginia  Regi 
ment.  Following  the  escort  came  the  hearse,  preceded  by  the 
clergy,  and  attended  by  twelve  pall-bearers,  representing  the 
trustees,  Faculty,  and  students  of  Washington  College,  the 
authorities  of  the  Virginia  Military  Institute,  the  soldiers  of 
the  Confederate  army,  and  the  citizens  of  Lexington.  Just 
in  the  rear  of  the  hearse,  Traveler,  the  noble  white  war-horse 
of  General  Lee,  with  saddle  and  bridle  covered  with  crape, 
was  led  by  two  old  soldiers.  Then  came  in  order  the  long 
procession  composed  of  the  college  authorities  and  students, 


' 


454  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

the  corps  of  cadets  with  their  Faculty,  and  the  citizens.  The 
body  was  borne  to  the  college  chapel,  and  laid  in  state  on 
the  dais;  the  procession  passing  slowly  by,  that  each  one 
might  look  upon  the  face  of  the  dead.  The  body,  attired  in 
a  simple  suit  of  black,  lay  in  a  metallic  coffin,  strewed  by 
pious  hands  with  flowers  and  evergreens.  The  chapel,  with 
the  care  of  the  remains,  was  then  placed  in  charge  of  the 
guard  of  honor,  appointed  by  the  students  from  their  own 
number.  This  guard  kept  watch  by  the  coffin  until  the  inter 
ment,  and  gave  to  all  who  desired  it  the  opportunity  of 
looking  once  more  upon  the  loved  and  honored  face. 

"  On  Friday  morning,  October  14th,  the  college  chapel  was 
filled  at  nine  o'clock  with  a  solemn  congregation  of  students 
and  citizens,  all  of  whom  seemed  deeply  moved  by  the  sim 
ple  exercises.  Rev.  Dr.  Pendleton  read  from  Psalm  xxxvii. 
8-11  and  28-4-0,  and  with  deep  feeling  applied  its  lessons  to 
the  audience,  as  illustrated  in  the  life  and  death  of  General 
Lee.  The  speaker  had  for  forty-five  years  been  intimately 
associated  with  this  great  and  good  man  as  fellow-student, 
comrade-in-arms,  and  pastor;  and  testified  to  his  singular 
and  consistent  rectitude,  dignity,  and  excellence  under  all 
the  circumstances  of  life,  and  to  that  meekness  in  him  that 
under  the  most  trying  adversity  knew  not  envy,  anger,  or 
complaint.  £  The  law  of  God  was  in  his  heart,'  therefore 
did  *  none  of  his  steps  slide.'  £  Mark  the  perfect  man  and 
behold  the  upright,  for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace.'  The 
minister  powerfully  illustrated  the  text  of  his  discourse  in 
the  career  of  this  great  and  good  man,  and  urged  his  hearers 
to  profit  by  the  example  of  this  servant  of  the  Lord. 

"  The  venerable  Dr.  White,  Stonewall  Jackson's  pastor, 
and  the  Rev.  John  "William  Jones,  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
who  had  served  as  chaplain  in  the  Confederate  army,  and  had 
since  been  intimately  connected  with  General  Lee,  followed 
with  brief  but  interesting  remarks  on  the  Christian  character 

C3 

of  the  deceased. 

"  On  the  14th  of  Octouer,  General  W.  II.  F.  Lee,  Cap- 


\ 


I 


HIS  DEATH   AND   FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  455 

tain  Robert  E.  Lee,  and  other  members  of  the  family,  arrived ; 
and  on  this  and  the  following  day  delegations  from  the 
Legislature  of  Virginia  and  from  various  places  in  the  Com 
monwealth  reached  Lexington  over  roads  almost  impassable 
from  the  ravages  of  the  recent  great  flood.  The  flag  of 
Virginia,  draped  in  mourning,  hung  at  half-mast  above  the 
college,  badges  of  sorrow  were  everywhere  visible,  and  a  gen 
eral  gloom  rested  on  the  hearts  of  old  and  young. 

"  Saturday,  October  15th,  was  the  day  appointed  for  the 
funeral.  A  cloudless  sky  and  a  pure,  bracing  air  made  a 
suitable  close  to  the  splendid  and  unsullied  career  of  the 
man  who  was  now  to  be  consigned  to  the  tomb.  It  was 
desired  to  avoid  all  mere  pageantry  and  display,  and  that  all 
the  honors  paid  should  accord  with  the  simple  dignity  of 
the  dead.  This  spirit  prevailed  in  all  the  proceedings,  and 
gave  character  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  day. 

"  It  was  thought  proper  that  those  who  had  followed  his 
flag  should  lay  the  honored  body  of  their  chief  in  its  last 
resting-place,  and  the  escort  of  honor  of  Confederate  soldiers, 
much  augmented  in  numbers,  and  commanded  by  General  B. 
T.  Johnson,  assisted  by  Colonel  Edmondson,  Colonel  Maury, 
and  Major  Dorman,  was  assigned  the  post  of  honor  in  the 
procession. 

"  The  foUowing  account  of  the  ceremonies  is  taken  from 
a  newspaper  letter,  written  at  the  time,  by  Rev.  J.  "Wm. 
Jones : 

"  '  The  order  of  the  procession  was  as  follows  : 

Music. 
Escort  of  Honor,  consisting  of  Officers  and  Soldiers  of  the 

Confederate  Army. 

Chaplain  and  other  Clergy. 

Hearse  and  Pall-Bearers. 

General  Lee's  Horse. 

The  Attending  Physicians. 

Trustees  and  Faculty  of  Washington  College. 

Dignitaries  of  the  State  of  Virginia. 


i56  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

Visitors  and  Faculty  of  Virginia  Military  Institute. 

Other  Representative  Bodies  and  Distinguished  Visitors. 

Alumni  of  Washington  College. 

Citizens. 

Cadets  Virginia  Military  Institute. 
Students  Washington  College  as  Guard  of  Honor. 

" '  At  ten  o'clock  precisely  the  procession  was  formed  on 
the  college-grounds  in  front  of  the  president's  house,  and 
moved  down  Washington  Street,  up  Jefferson  Street  to  the 
Franklin  Hall,  thence  to  Main  Street,  where  it  was  joined, 
in  front  of  the  hotel,  by  the  representatives  of  the  State  of 
Virginia  and  other  representative  bodies  in  their  order,  and 
by  the  organized  body  of  the  citizens  in  front  of  the  court 
house. 

"  '  The  procession  then  moved  by  the  street  to  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute,  where  it  was  joined  by  the  visitors,  Facul 
ty,  and  cadets  of  the  Institute,  in  their  respective  places. 
The  procession  was  closed  by  the  students  of  Washington 
College  as  a  guard  of  honor,  and  then  moved  up  through 
the  Institute  and  college  grounds  to  the  chapel. 

" i  The  procession  was  halted  in  front  of  .the  chapel,  when 
the  cadets  of  the  Institute  and  the  students  of  Washington 
College  were  marched  through  the  college  chapel  past  the 
remains,  and  were  afterward  drawn  up  in  two  bodies  on  the 
south  side  of  the  chapel.  The  remainder  of  the  procession 
then  proceeded  into  the  chapel  and  were  seated  under  the 
direction  of  the  marshals.  The  gallery  and  side  blocks  were 
reserved  for  ladies. 

" '  As  the  procession  moved  off,  to  a  solemn  dirge  by  the 
Institute  band,  the  bells  of  the  town  began  to  toll,  and  the 
Institute  battery  fired  minute-guns,  which  were  kept  up  dur 
ing  the  whole  exercises. 

" l  In  front  of  the  National  Hotel  the  procession  was  joined 
by  the  committee  of  the  Legislature,  consisting  of  Colonel 
W.  H.  Taylor,  Colonel  E.  Pendleton,  W.  L.  Eiddick,  Major 


HIS  DEATH  AND  FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  45? 

Kelley,  Geo.  Walker,  Z.  Turner,  II.  Bowen,  T.  O.  Jackson, 
and  Marshall  Hanger ;  the  delegation  from  the  city  of  Staun- 
ton,  headed  by  Colonel  Bolivar  Christian  and  other  promi 
nent  citizens ;  and  such  other  delegations  as  had  been  able 
to  stem  the  torrents  which  the  great  freshet  had  made  of 
even  the  smaller  streams. 

"'It  was  remarked  that  the  different  classes  who  joined 
in  the  procession  mingled  into  each  other,  and  that  among 
the  Boards  of  the  College  and  Institute,  the  Faculties,  the 
students  and  cadets,  the  legislative  committee,  the  delega 
tions,  and  even  the  clergy,  were  many  who  might  with  equal 
propriety  have  joined  the  soldier  guard  of  honor ;  for  they, 
too,  had  followed  the  standard  of  Lee  in  the  days  that  tried 
men's  souls. 

" i  Along  the  streets  the  buildings  were  all  appropriately 
draped,  and  crowds  gathered  on  the  corners  and  in  the  bal 
conies  to  see  the  procession  pass.  Not  a  flag  floated  above 
the  procession,  and  nothing  was  seen  that  looked  like  an 
attempt  at  display.  The  old  soldiers  wore  their  ordinary 
citizens'  dress,  with  a  simple  black  ribbon  in  the  lappel  of 
their  coats ;  and  Traveler,  led  by  two  old  soldiers,  had  the 
simple  trappings  of  mourning  on  his  saddle. 

"  '  The  Virginia  Military  Institute  was  very  beautifully 
draped,  and  from  its  turrets  hung  at  half-mast,  and  draped 
in  mourning,  the  flags  of  all  of  the  States  of  the  late  South 
ern  Confederacy. 

" '  When  the  procession  reached  the  Institute,  it  passed 
the  corps  of  cadets  drawn  up  in  line,  and  a  guard  of  honor 
presented  arms  as  the  hearse  passed.  When  it  reached  the 
chapel,  where  an  immense  throng  had  assembled,  the  stu 
dents  and  cadets,  about  six  hundred  and  fifty  strong,  marched 
into  the  left  door  and  aisle  past  the  remains  and  out  by  the 
right  aisle  and  door  to  their  appropriate  place.  The  rest  of 
the  procession  then  filed  in.  The  family,  joined  by  Drs. 
Barton  and  Madison,  the  attending  physicians,  and  Colonels 
W.  H.  Taylor  and  C.  S.  Yenable,  members  of  General  Lee's 


458  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

staff  during  the  war,  occupied  seats  immediately  in  front  of 
the  pulpit ;  and  the  clergy,  of  whom  a  number  were  present, 
Faculty  of  the  College,  and  Faculty  of  the  Institute,  had 
places  on  the  platform. 

" £  The  coffin  was  covered  with  flowers  and  evergreens, 
while  the  front  of  the  drapery  thrown  over  it  was  decorated 
with  crosses  of  evergreen  and  immortelles. 

"  c  Rev.  Dr.  Pendleton,  the  long  intimate  personal  friend 
of  General  Lee,  his  chief  of  artillery  during  the  war,  and  his 
pastor  the  past  five  .years,  read  the  beautiful  burial  services 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  No  sermon  was  preached,  and 
nothing  said  besides  the  simple  service,  in  accordance  with 
the  known  wishes  of  General  Lee. 

" c  After  the  funeral  services  were  concluded  in  the  chap 
el,  the  body  was  removed  to  the  vault  prepared  for  its  recep 
tion,  and  the  concluding  services  read  by  the  chaplain  from 
the  bank  on  the  southern  side  of  the  chapel,  in  front  of  the 
vault. 

" '  There  was  sung,  in  the  chapel,  the  124th  hymn  of  the 
Episcopal  collection ;  and,  after  the  coffin  was  lowered  into 
the  vault,  the  congregation  sang  the  grand  old  hymn, 

"  How  firm  a  foundation,  ye  saints  of  the  Lord." 

" c  This  was  always  a  favorite  hymn  of  General  Lee's,  and 
was,  therefore,  especially  appropriate  upon  this  sad  occasion. 

"  c  The  vault  is  constructed  of  brick,  lined  with  cement. 
The  top  just  reaches  the  floor  of  the  library,  and  is  double 
capped  with  white  marble,  on  which  is  the  simple  inscrip 
tion : 

"EGBERT    EDWARD    LEE, 

BORN  JANUARY  19,  1807; 
DIED  OCTOBER  12,  1870." 

"  '  This  temporary  structure  is  to  be  replaced  by  a  beauti 
ful  sarcophagus,  the  design  of  which  has  been  already  com 
mitted  to  Valentine,  the  gifted  Virginia  sculptor.' 

"  The  simple  services  concluded,  the  great  assemblage, 


HIS   DEATH  AND   FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES.  459 

with  hearts  awed  and  saddened,  defiled  through  the  vaulted 
room  in  which  was  the  tomb,  to  pay  the  last  token  of  respect 
to  the  mighty  dead.  Thus  ended  the  funeral  of  General 
Robert  E.  Lee. 

"  Since  then  has  been  laid  by  his  side  the  noble  matron, 
who  was  every  way  worthy  to  be  his  wife ;  and  a  little  space 
away  the  dear  daughter,  so  like  them  both  in  gentleness  and 
dignity,  and  yet  with  added  graces  of  her  own.  Tributes  of 
rare  and  beautiful  flowers,  wreaths  of  laurels,  and  crosses  of 
immortelles,  placed  by  loving  hands,  decorate  the  sacred  spot. 
A  student  of  the  university,  to  which  his  name  has  added 
an  interest  coextensive  with  the  Confederate  South,  watches 
beside  the  grave,  and  gathers  strength  in  the  service  for 
self -consecration  to  a  life  of  duty  and  honor.  Above  the 
tomb  rises  the  chapel — which  his  Christian  zeal  constructed, 
itself  a  noble  monument  to  the  illustrious  dead — and  which 
needs  appropriate  decoration  only  to  make  it  worthy  of  the 
hero  who  sleeps  beneath." 

The  sketch  of  Colonel  Johnston  has  left  the  author  noth 
ing  to  add  concerning  the  death  and  funeral  obsequies  of 
General  Lee.  He  sleeps  well  in  the  beautiful  Yalley  of  Vir 
ginia,  beneath  the  chapel  he  built,  hard  by  the  office  which 
was  the  scene  of  his  last  and  noblest  labors,  and  which  is 
preserved  just  as  he  left  it  the  day  of  his  fatal  illness.  The 
Blue  Mountains  of  his  loved  Virginia  sentinel  his  grave,  and 
a  daily  guard  of  students  delight  to  keep  ward  and  watch  at 
his  tomb.  The  clear  streams,  as  they  flow  along  their  emer 
ald  beds,  seem  to  murmur  his  praises  and  roll  on  to  the  ocean 
his  fame.  From  all  parts  of  the  land  pilgrims  come  to  visit 
his  tomb,  and  loving  hands  bring  fresh  flowers,  immortelles, 
and  evergreens — fit  emblems  of  the  fadeless  wreath  which 
now  decks  his  brow. 

"Valentine — Virginia's  gifted  young  sculptor — is  now 
putting  into  the  life-speaking  marble  that  splendid  creation 
of  his  genius  which  will  at  the  same  time  worthily  decorate 
the  grave  of  Lee,  and  write  his  own  name  among  the  world's 


460  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

greatest  artists.  The  soldiers  and  the  noble  woflien  of  the 
South  have  resolved  to  rear,  on  some  suitable  spot  in  .Rich 
mond,  a  splendid  equestrian  statue,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the 
day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Legislatures  of  the  South,  re 
flecting  the  wishes  of  the  people,  will  liberally  aid  this  effort 
to  honor  the  noblest  of  her  sons. 

The  "  Southern  Historical  Society  "  is  endeavoring  to  col 
lect  materials  for  the  true  history  of  Lee,  of  the  army  which 
he  led,  and  of  the  cause  for  which  he  fought ;  and  we  proudly 
commit  the  story  of  his  mighty  deeds  and  spotless  life  to  the 
calm  judgment  of  the  future  historian. 

Meantime,  I  bring  this  leaflet  for  the  royal  wreath  with 
which  the  people  of  the  whole  country — North  as  well  as 
South — will,  in  the  years  to  come,  deck  the  brow  of  Lee. 

The  world  mourns  for  Robert  E.  Lee,  because  one  of  its 
noblest  heroes  has  fallen — those  whose  proud  privilege  it  was 
to  have  been  in  any  way  associated  with  him,  weep  that  the 
courteous  gentleman,  the  warm-hearted,  thoughtful  friend, 
the  humble,  earnest  Christian,  comes  not  again  to  his  accus 
tomed  places.  But  we  "  sorrow  not  as  those  who  have  no 
hope."  He  lived  the  life  of  a  faithful  soldier  of  the  Cross — 
he  fell  at  the  post  of  duty  with  the  harness  on — he  died  in 
the  full  assurance  of  faith  in  Jesus,  and  now  wears  the  Chris 
tian's  "  crown  of  rejoicing  " — 

"  That  crown  with  peerless  glories  bright, 

Which  shall  new  lustre  boast, 
When  victors'  wreaths  and  monarchs'  gems 
Shall  blend  in  common  dust." 


APPENDIX. 

SELECTIONS  FEOM  EULOGIES   ON  GENERAL  LEE. 

THE  expressions  of  grief  on  the  death  of  General  Lee  all 
over  this  country,  and  in  Europe,  would  fill  a  volume  much 
larger  than  this,  and  the  author  has  hesitated  to  make  even  a 
few  selections.  But  it  seems  fitting  that  the  volume  should  be 
closed  with  several  representative  expressions  of  the  common  and 
universal  sorrow.  And,  as  a  chapter  has  been  devoted  to  the 
mutual  love  between  the  great  leader  and  his  soldiers,  it  seems 
appropriate  to  introduce  the  expression  of  the  feelings  of  the 
Faculty  and  students  of  his  college.  The  Southern  Collegian, 
the  organ  of  the  students  of  Washington  College,  thus  announced 
his  death  : 

"  We  stop  our  paper  from  going  to  press  in  order  to  make  the  sad 
dest  announcement  which  our  pen  ever  wrote :  Our  honored  and  loved 
president  is  no  more.  He  expired  at  his  residence,  on  Wednesday,  Oc 
tober  12th,  at  half-past  nine  o'clock  A.  M. 

"  For  the  past  twelve  months  his  continued  ill-health  has  been  a 
source  of  great  uneasiness  to  his  friends,  but  we  had  fondly  hoped  that 
there  were  indications  of  improvement  which  promised  long  years  of 
usefulness.  Alas !  that  we  are  compelled  to  announce  his  death  in  our 
first  issue  for  the  current  session.  The  real  cause  of  General  Lee's  death 
is  to  be  sought  far  back  of  his  recent  attack.  His  splendid  physical  de 
velopment  would  probably  have  withstood  much  severer  illness,  and 
have  spared  him  for  many  years,  had  there  not  been  moral  causes  which 
wore  away  his  life.  The  crushing  responsibilities  incident  to  his  posi 
tion  at  the  head  of  the  Confederate  Army ;  his  consuming  anxiety  as  he 
saw  his  little  band  melt  away  before  the  countless  host  of  their  enemy ; 
his  crowning  grief  as  he  felt  compelled  '  to  yield  to  overwhelming  num 
bers  and  resources,'  and  see  the  flag  he  loved  trail  in  the  dust ;  his  con- 


462  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

tinned  sorrow  since,  at  witnessing  the  desolations  of  his  loved  South, 
and  feeling  unable  to  help  her;  and  the  opening  of  all  his  wounds  afresh 
as  his  daily  mails  were  flooded  with  piteous  appeals  from  his  maimed 
soldiers,  or  their  widows  and  orphans— all  these  combined  told  with 
fatal  effect  upon  him.  He  bore  these  things  with  calm  exterior,  and  with 
a  heroism  surpassing  any  that  he  ever  exhibited  on  the  field  of  battle? 
but  they  gradually  wore  away  the  very  fibres  of  his  great  heart. 

"  On  Wednesday,  the  28th  of  September,  General  Lee  was  more 
than  usually  occupied  with  his  college  duties,  and  in  the  afternoon  pre 
sided  over  a  meeting  of  the  vestry  of  his  church,  at  which  most  impor 
tant  matters  were  considered,  and  which  was  protracted  for  three  hours. 
While  sitting  at  the  tea-table  that  evening,  he  was  taken  suddenly  ill, 
and  the  most  serious  fears  were  entertained  concerning  him.  But  the 
next  day  he  rallied,  and  continued  to  improve  until  last  Monday,  Octo 
ber  10th,  when  he  grew  worse,  and  gradually  passed  away.  His  eminent 
physicians  (Drs.  H.  T.  Barton  and  R.  L.  Madison)  give  the  following 
as  the  proximate  cause  of  his  death :  *  Mental  and  physical  fatigue,  in 
ducing  venous  congestion  of  the  brain,  which,  however,  never  proceeded 
as  far  as  apoplexy  or  paralysis,  but  gradually  caused  cerebral  exhaustion 
and  death.' 

"  There  will  be  a  natural  anxiety  to  know  about  his  last  hours,  and 
learn  his  last  words ;  but  of  these  there  is  nothing  to  write.  He  only 
spoke  in  answer  to  questions  about  his  physical  condition,  although 
rational  nearly  the  whole  time,  and  left  absolutely  nothing  for  the  sen 
sational  press  to  seize  upon.  He  died  as  he  lived,  calmly  and  quietly,  in 
the  full  assurance  of  the  Christian's  faith,  and  with  the  brightest  evi 
dence  that,  in  *  passing  over  the  river,'  he  has  (with  his  great  lieutenant) 
*  rested  under  the  shade  of  the  trees '  of  paradise." 

Suitable  resolutions  were  passed  by  a  mass-meeting  of  the 
students,  and  by  the  two  Literarj'  Societies. 

The  action  of  the  Faculty  is  appended,  as  being  not  only  a 
graceful  tribute  to  the  memory  of  General  Lee,  but  also  an  ex 
cellent  epitome  of  his  life : 

"  General  Robert  E.  Lee,  President  of  Washington  College,  died  at 
his  residence  on  the  12th  day  of  October,  1870,  at  half-past  9  A.  M. 

"  The  Faculty  of  the  institution  over  which  he  has  presided  for  five 
years  testify  that  this  dispensation  of  God  has  brought  to  them,  person 
ally,  a  grief  as  severe  as  the  loss  it  has  inflicted  upon  the  college  is  irrep 
arable. 

"Eulogy  has  exhausted  itself  upon  the  virtues  and  genius  of  Presi- 


SELECTIONS  FROM  EULOGIES  ON   GENERAL   LEE.         4G3 

dent  Lee.  It  becomes  friendship  to  be  as  simple  in  its  tribute  to  the  dead 
as  his  modesty  while  living  would  have  sanctioned,  and  to  let  the  glory 
of  his  now  ended  life  speak  the  praise  due  to  its  extraordinary  incidents, 
and  to  its  permanent  influence  for  good  upon  his  country  and  the  world. 

"  He  was  born  on  the  19th  day  of  January,  1807,  at  Stratford  House, 
Westmoreland  County,  Virginia.  He  was  the  son  of  General  Henry 
Lee,  to  whom  Revolutionary  fame  attached  the  sobriquet  of  'Light- 
Horse  Harry.'  His  father  was  the  ardent  personal  and  political  friend  of 
Washington.  Under  his  training  his  son  was  early  taught  to  love  Vir 
ginia  as  his  country  ;  for  that  father  had  said  with  impressive  emphasis, 
what  he  confirmed  on  a  solemn  public  occasion,  '  No  consideration  on 
earth  could  induce  me  to  act  a  part,  however  gratifying  to  me,  which 
could  be  construed  into  disregard  or  foregetfulness  of  the  Common 
wealth.' 

"  At  eleven  years  of  age  Robert  E.  Lee  was  fatherless.  His  boy 
hood  was  pure,  ingenuous,  and  dutiful. 

"As  the  son  of  Virginia,  he  entered  West  Point  as  a  cadet  in  1825, 
and  graduated,  without  a  demerit,  at  the  head  of  his  class.  He  was 
commissioned  a  lieutenant  of  engineers  in  1829. 

"  When  the  Mexican  War  began,  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Engineer 
Corps ;  and  when  victory  marshaled  the  army  of  the  United  States 
in  the  capital  of  the  enemy,  the  glory  of  its  chief,  by  his  own  testimony 
and  that  of  the  country,  was  due,  in  a  large  degree,  to  the  genius  of 
Lee,  whose  numerous  brevets  were  but  a  small  tribute  to  his  sagacity 
and  skill  as  an  officer,  and  to  his  courage  and  chivalry  as  a  soldier. 

"  The  war  closed  with  the  acquisition  of  a  new  empire  to  the  Union, 
so  rich  and  powerful  that  it  remunerated  the  country  tenfold  for  all  its 
cost  in  effort  and  treasure. 

"After  the  close  of  the  war  Colonel  Lee  continued  to  serve  in  the 
Engineer  Department  of  the  army  until  the  year  1852,  when  he  was 
appointed  to  the  distinguished  position  of  Superintendent  of  the  West 
Point  Military  Academy.  His  administration  there,  which  continued 
until  1855,  was  marked  by  signal  ability  and  success,  and  to  it  he  owed 
that  practical  experience  in  scholastic  affairs  which  contributed  so 
largely  to  his  usefulness  in  his  late  career  as  President  of  Washington 
College.  He  next  served  upon  the  western  frontier  as  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  cavalry,  in  the  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Albert  Syd 
ney  Johnston.  His  last  memorable  service  in  the  United  States  Army 
was  in  the  suppression  of  the  *  John  Brown  rebellion  '  at  Harper's  Fer 
ry,  Virginia,  in  October,  1859. 

"  Political  conflict,  growing  out  of  sectional  differences,  and  aggra 
vated  by  the  question  of  rights  in  the  territory  acquired  from  Mexico, 


464     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

« 

reached  the  height  of  a  strife  in  arms  on  the  15th  day  of  April,  1861. 
To  that  strife  President  Lincoln  summoned  Virginia  on  that  day,  against 
her  sister  States  of  the  South.  On  the  17th  day  of  April,  1861,  she  re 
jected  his  summons,  and  cast  in  her  lot  with  the  Southern  States. 

"  To  Colonel  Lee  was  thus  presented  the  alternative  of  bearing  the 
sword  he  had  assumed,  as  a  son  of  Virginia,  for  or  against  his  native 
Commonwealth.  A  solemn  conviction  of  duty,  confirmed  in  his  nature 
by  a  father's  teachings,  permitted  no  hesitancy  in  the  decision.  He 
came  to  Virginia,  and,  at  her  invitation,  drew  his  sword  in  her  defense 
and  under  her  authority.  How  his  calm  patriotism,  his  consummate 
genius,  and  his  heroic  fortitude,  bore  him  during  the  four  years  in 
which  his  country  contended  against  numbers  and  resources  vastly  dis- 
proportioned  to  her  own,  history  has  recorded,  and  the  world  can  never 
forget. 

"  On  the  9th  day  of  April,  1.865,  he  sheathed  his  sword,  which  his 
distinguished  adversary  did  not  ask  to  be  surrendered,  upon  his  parole 
of  honor  to  bear  arms  no  longer  against  the  victor,  and  to  live  the 
life  of  a  peaceful  citizen  of  a  State  of  the  Union. 

"That  parole  of  honor  he  has  never  tarnished  by  the  slightest 
departure  from  its  stipulations.  He  bore  the  confiscation  of  his  prop 
erty,  the  obloquy  upon  his  name,  the  defeat  and  suffering  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen,  without  a  murmur,  and  in  the  patient  and  silent  conscious 
ness  of  a  strict  and  rigid  adherence  to  duty  in  his  past  career. 

"  He  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  Washington  College  on  the  28th 
of  September,  1865.  His  executive  ability,  his  enlarged  views  of  a  liberal 
culture,  his  extraordinary  powers  in  the  government  of  men,  his  wonder 
ful  influence  over  the  mind  of  the  young,  and  his  steady  and  earnest  de 
votion  to  his  duties,  made  the  college  spring,  as  if  by  the  touch  of  magic, 
from  its  depression  after  the  war,  to  its  present  firm  condition  of  per 
manent  and  wide-spread  usefulness. 

"  As  president,  in  his  relations  to  the  Faculty,  he  was  gentle,  cour 
teous,  and  considerate — toward  the  students  he  was  firm  in  discipline, 
yet  forbearing,  sympathetic,  and  encouraging — to  all  he  was  a  model  of 
an  elevated  Christian  and  an  upright  gentleman. 

"  During  the  last  five  years,  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  as 
President  of  Washington  College,  which  were  entered  upon  under  most 
trying  circumstances,  and  maintained  with  serene  patience  and  noble 
devotion  to  the  end  of  his  life,  he  has  exhibited  qualities  not  less  illus 
trious  than  any  which  he  displayed  in  his  military  career ;  and  which, 
as  they  were  necessary  to  complete  the  perfect  harmony  of  his  character, 
have  thus  connected  his  fame,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  with  the  history  of 
Washington  College. 


SELECTIONS   FROM  EULOGIES  ON   GENERAL  LEE.         465 

"  He  died,  as  he  had  lived,  without  fear,  and  with  the  reverence  of 
all  good  men  ;  calmly  patient,  in  the  consciousness  of  a  virtuous  life  and 
of  rectitude  of  purpose;  and  in  that  complete  reliance  upon  God  which 
had  sustained  him  throughout  all  the  changes  of  fortune. 

"The  Faculty  bear  this  simple  testimony  to  the  virtuous  life,  the 
simple  and  genuine  piety,  and  the  exalted  genius  of  their  illustrious  and 
beloved  president — and  tender  to  his  widow  and  children,  and  to  his 
mourning  countrymen,  their  hearts'  sympathy  in  the  common  calamity 
of  his  irreparable  loss. 

"It  is  a  deep  satisfaction  to  receive  his  revered  remains  beneath  the 
chapel  he  had  built ;  and  it  will  be  to  the  college  which  he  loved  an 
unspeakable  blessing  that,  though  his  presence  is  removed,  the  memory 
of  his  noble  life  will  remain  to  us  as  an  incentive  to  duty,  and  as  an 
abiding  inspiration  to  the  youth  of  the  country,  as  they  gather  at  this 
last  scene  of  his  labors,  to  emulate  his  virtues  and  to  follow  his  great 
example ! 

"  Be  it  therefore  resolved,  That  in  the  midst  of  the  severe  calamity 
which  has  befallen  us,  in  the  death  of  our  beloved  president,  we,  the 
Faculty  of  Washington  College,  experience  a  profound  pleasure  and 
pride  in  recognizing  the  fact  that  the  fame  of  General  Lee,  while  it 
belongs  to  the  whole  country,  is,  in  an  especial  sense,  the  heritage  of 
Washington  College ;  and  that  it  is  our  duty,  as  it  is  our  privilege,  to 
provide  here  suitable  memorials  whereby  this  precious  possession  shall  be 
acknowledged,  and  his  name  publicly  held  in  grateful  remembrance  by 
this  college,  for  all  future  time. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  a  like 
committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  report  measures  and  plans  for 
the  erection  of  a  suitable  monument  to  General  Lee,  in  the  room  in 
which  his  remains  are  to  be  interred  ;  and,  further,  to  consider  and  re 
commend  such  other  monuments  or  memorials  as  may  be  deemed  appro 
priate  in  the  college. 

u  Resolved,  That  these  committees  be  requested  jointly  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  delivery  of  a  eulogy  on  the  life  and  character  of 
General  Lee,  in  the  college  chapel,  on  the  19th  day  of  January,  being  the 
next  anniversary  of  his  birthday ;  and  we  further  express  the  wish  that 
this  anniversary,  like  the  birthday  of  Washington,  shall  be  hereafter 
always  celebrated  in  this  college. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  said  committees  be  requested  also  to  confer  and 
report  upon  the  subject  of  so  amending  the  present  charter  of  Washing 
ton  College  that  the  name  of  this  institution  may  hereafter  express,  in  fit 
conjunction,  the  immortal  names  of  WASHINGTON  and  LEE,  whose  lives 
were  so  similar  in  their  perfect  renown,  and  with  both  of  whom  equally. 

30 


40 6  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

by  singular  good  fortune,  it  is  entitled  to  be  associated  in  its  future 
history. 

"  Itesolved,  That  as  a  further  expression  of  our  deep  sorrow,  we  will 
wear  the  badge  of  mourning  during  the  remainder  of  the  present  session. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  above  minute  be  communicated  to  the 
widow  and  family  of  the  deceased,  and  published  in  the  Southern  Col 
legian  and  the  Virginia  Gazette" 

The  following  report  of  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  and  stu 
dents  of  the  college  is  taken  from  the  Southern  Collegian  and 
inserted  as  an  appropriate  expression  of  the  feelings  with  which 
the  Faculty  and  students  returned  to  their  work  after  the  funeral 
of  their  great  president : 


COLLEGE. 

"  A  very  touching  meeting  was  held  on  the  morning  of  the  17th 
of  October,  in  the  college  chapel.  It  had  been  decided  to  resume  the 
regular  college  exercises,  and  it  was  understood  that  before  doing  so  the 
professors  desired  to  meet  with  the  students,  and  have  a  few  words  of 
quiet  conference.  Accordingly,  the  chapel  was  filled  with  a  deeply  sol 
emn  audience  of  students,  the  Faculty,  and  a  few  citizens. 

u  After  the  usual  chapel  services,  Rev.  Dr.  Kirkpatrick,  Professor  of 
Moral  Philosophy,  arose  and  said,  in  substance,  that  it  had  been  deemed 
fitting  that  the  students  and  the  Faculty  should  have  a  season  of  confer 
ence  together  before  resuming  the  duties  which  had  been  so  sadly  inter 
rupted.  The  Faculty  deeply  felt  that  a  great  change  had  taken  place, 
and  that  their  responsibilities  had  been  greatly  increased.  He  desired, 
in  behalf  of  the  Faculty,  to  thank  the  students  for  the  uniform  propriety 
of  deportment  which  had  marked  the  conduct  of  each  one  of  them  dur 
ing  this  season  of  deep  affliction.  He  had  expected  it  to  be  so,  and  had 
not  been  disappointed.  He  said  that  the  Faculty  and  students  were  now 
bound  together  by  the  tenderest  ties  of  a  common  grief,  and  that  their 
duties  to  each  other  and  to  the  college  were  sanctified  by  the  memories 
of  the  past. 

"  Standing  here  in  the  very  presence  of  the  one  they  all  honored  and 
loved,  the  Faculty  pledged  themselves  to  increased  efforts  to  carry  out 
his  wishes,  and  to  discharge  faithfully  their  duties.  They  felt  urged  to 
so  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  college  as  to  make  it  a  fitting  monument  to 
President  Lee.  And  he  earnestly  appealed  to  the  students  so  to  do  their 
part,  so  to  unite  with  the  Faculty,  as  to  rear  a  monument  to  our  great 


SELECTIONS   FROM  EULOGIES  OX   GENERAL  LEE.         46? 

chieftain  more  durable  than  marble,  and  more  precious  and  more  honor 
able  than  the  most  costly  material.  The  instruction  of  the  college 
would  be  the  same  as  heretofore :  in  its  '  discipline '  and  the  general 
oversight  they  would  sadly  miss  their  honored  president.  But  the  Fac 
ulty  confidently  hoped  that  the  students  would  so  deport  themselves — 
so  be  a  law  unto  themselves,  and  so  remember  the  example,  advice,  and 
ardent  wishes  of  our  loved  friend — as  to  give  no  occasion  for  the  exercise 
of  '  discipline '  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term. 

"  Hon.  J.  Randolph  Tucker  next  briefly  addressed  the  students.  He 
said  that  the  saddest  thing  connected  with  the  death  of  a  great  man  was 
that  it  broke  the  thread  of  his  life-plans,  and  left  them  incomplete. 
Such  was  the  case  with  General  Lee.  He  had  come  to  Washington  Col 
lege  five  years  ago — had  found  it  in  a  low  state — with  but  four  profess 
ors,  with  much  of  its  apparatus  destroyed  by  the  Federal  army,  and  had 
conceived  a  plan  for  raising  it  to  the  first  rank  among  the  institutions  of 
learning  in  the  land,  and  making  it  worthy  of  the  Father  of  his  Country. 

"  He  has  accomplished  much.  He  has  increased  the  corps  of  profess 
ors  from  four  to  nine  in  number  in  the  academic  and  scientific  depart 
ments,  and  had  established  a  law  school  with  two  professors.  He  had 
other  views  for  enlarging  the  teaching  capacity  of  the  institution,  not 
yet  consummated,  but  soon  to  be  complete. 

"  Death  put  an  end  to  his  labors.  Shall  the  good  he  did  survive  him, 
or  shall  his  success  be  as  fleeting  as  human  life  ?  It  was  for  those  who 
survive  him — trustees,  Faculty,  and  students — to  answer. 

"  This  was  the  child  of  his  declining  years,  left  fatherless  by  his  death. 
It  is  our  duty  to  nurture  and  foster  it — to  guard  and  protect  it — and 
promote  its  interests,  until  it  shall  become  the  noblest  monument  forever 
of  his  devotion  to  duty  and  his  enlightened  views  of  an  enlarged  cultiva 
tion  for  his  young  countrymen. 

"  We  shall  earnestly  endeavor  to  carry  out  all  his  policy — to  conduct 
the  schools  of  the  college  as  they  have  always  been,  and  to  make  it  in 
the  present  and  in  the  future  worthy  of  his  name,  and  to  advance  it  to 
its  proper  rank  among  the  foremost  institutions  of  the  country ;  and  we 
cordially  invite  the  young  men  here  to  unite  with  us  in  preserving  the 
integrity  of  the  plans  of  the  late  president,  and  to  carry  them  out  to  their 
highest  success,  according  to  his  views  and  earnest  hopes,  so  that  it 
may  be  to  the  youth  of  the  country  a  perpetual  memorial  of  his  name, 
and  a  permanent  monument  to  his  genius. 

"  Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston  then  addressed  the  students  as 
follows : 

"  '  MY  FRIENDS  :  The  Faculty  have  requested  me  to  address  to  you  a 
few  remarks  in  view  of  the  position  in  which  Washington  College  stands' 


i68  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

to-day.  While  I  feel  that  what  has  been  already  so  well  said  is  suffi 
cient,  and  that  words  of  mine  are  scarcely  necessary,  I  do  not  decline 
the  duty.  It  is  eminently  fit  that  on  occasions  of  interest  the  Faculty 
and  students  should  confer  together,  and  such  an  occasion  as  this  has  not 
happened  in  the  history  of  this  college,  and  will  not  again  in  all  time. 
You  are  now  assembled  as  one  of  the  estates  of  this  commonwealth  of 
letters,  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  your  elders,  and,  what  has  even  a 
greater  moral  significance  to  you,  to  learn  how  best  you  are  to  perform 
your  parts  in  the  scheme  of  self-government.  I  am  using  no  new  lan 
guage  ;  I  am  but  repeating  the  thoughts  and  the  words  of  all  the  days 
and  all  the  years  in  which  we  have  been  associated  as  instructors  and 
pupils.  A  great  part  of  the  government  of  this  college  has  been  in  your 
hands,  and  you  have  manifested  in  your  moral  conduct  and  intellectual 
progress  what  can  be  done  through  liberty,  inspired  by  love  and  regu 
lated  by  law.  In  all  the  recorded  past,  no  epoch  has  excelled  in  lustre 
and  development  the  period  of  Pericles,  when  free  Athens  under  his 
enlightened  guidance  made  herself  immortal.  The  republic  whose  citi 
zens  are  gathered  this  morning  within  these  walls  has  obeyed  with  will 
ing  hearts  a  leader  who  had  the  virtues  of  Pericles,  without  one  blemish, 
one  spot,  one  stain.  In  him  duty  disdained  to  yield  to  expediency,  and 
Aristides  himself  would  have  owned  him  as  a  peer  in  virtue.  It  was 
the  dying  boast  of  Pericles  that  he  had  made  no  Athenian  weep  ;  but  of 
our  chief  it  may  be  said  that  for  no  act  of  his  has  any  son  of  the  South 
ever  had  cause  to  blush.  With  such  a  leader,  with  such  an  exemplar 
before  our  eyes,  it  has  not  been  hard  to  do  right.  It  would  have  been 
hard  to  do  wrong,  to  go  far  astray,  and  face  our  consciences  in  that 
august  presence.  But  how  is  it  now  ?  He  has  gone  from  among  us ; 
and  whose  calm  prudence  and  serene  majesty  of  soul  will  now  rebuke 
the  hasty  word  or  precipitate  act?  whose  tender  counsel  will  restrain 
the  erring  step  ?  whose  broad  charity  will  cover  our  multitudinous  trans 
gressions?  How  can  we  replace  the  lost?  Ah !  my  friends,  that  is  im 
possible.  For,  where  in  all  the  ranks  of  the  living  will  be  found  his 
like?  We  will  not  make  the  vain  attempt  to  supply  his  place,  but  we 
will  seek  to  perpetuate  his  influence.  If  you  feel  as  I  do,  the  guide  and 
guardian  of  the  conduct  and  career  of  this  college  and  of  its  Faculty  and 
students,  will  still  be  this  mighty  spirit  of  Lee.  Trouble  not  your  minds 
as  to  his  successor.  To  the  same  wisdom  that  selected  General  Lee  in 
his  retirement,  and  secured  his  acceptance  of  this  post,  you  may  trust  to 
provide  for  you  an  executive  officer  who  will  bring  no  discredit  npon 
the  college,  or  upon  the  memory  of  the  dead. 

"  *  When  the  tremendous  conflict  in  which  for  four  years  he  upheld 
the  fortunes  of  half  a  continent  had  ended,  and  finding  success  denied 


SELECTIONS  FROM    EULOGIES    ON   GENERAL   LEE.         469 

to  him,  he  yielded  to  overwhelming  numbers,  he  turned  his  face  to  the 
desolated  land  for  which  he  had  done  and  suffered  so  much,  he  stretched 
forth  his  hand  to  stanch  the  wounds  he  had  been  unable  to  avert.  In 
the  matchless  dignity  of  voiceless  woe  that  hand  has  done  the  work  it 
found  to  do.  His  cultured  intellect,  his  finished  education,  his  ripe 
experience  of  men  and  things,  his  practical  knowledge  as  an  educator,  his 
great  executive  ability,  and  all  the  forces  of  a  mind  vast  yet  exceed 
ingly  well  balanced,  were  applied  to  the  development  of  this  college. 
He  sketched  the  comprehensive  plan  and  wrought  out  the  details  of  the 
work,  that  in  chaste  and  simple  beauty  to  us  is  to  rest  like  a  capital 
upon  the  solid  and  splendid  shaft  of  his  civic  and  national  renown  ;  and 
Washington  College  stands  as  the  last  and  crowning  achievement  of  a 
useful  and  glorious  life.  His  labor  is  finished ;  the  weary  is  at  rest ;  but 
the  magnificent  structure  that  he  conceived  and  planned,  and  whose 
foundation  he  has  laid,  is  left  for  completion  to  his  country.  We  rest  in 
an  abiding  faith  that  our  country  will  not  suffer  to  sink  into  dust  and 
forgetfulness  this  last  ^enduring  mounment  of  his  fame  ;  and  we  may  re 
turn  to  our  appointed  tasks  and  daily  duties  with  cheerfulness  and  en 
ergy,  knowing  that  therein  we  best  carry  out  his  wishes  and  perpetuate 
his  fame. 

" '  You  need  from  me  no  outline  of  a  moral  code,  no  exhortations  to 
special  duties,  for  I  sum  up  all  by  pointing  to  the  memory  of  the  man 
you  honored  and  revered. 

"  *  General  Lee's  plan  is  to  be  carried  out  in  the  spirit  in  which  it 
was  conceived;  and  we  trust  that  time  will  show  that  neither  Faculty 
nor  students  have  relaxed  in  their  zeal,  or  are  weary  in  well-doing.  But 
we  enter  on  this  year's  work  with  saddened  hearts  under  the  chastening 
3f  a  crushing  calamity.  Let  us  try  to  realize,  as  far  as  may  be,  the 
great  thought  of  our  dead  leader,  and  make  "  human  virtue  equal  to 
human  calamity." ' 

"  Colonel  William  Allan  next  spoke  as  follows: 

"  '  It  is  not  eight  years  since  the  great  soldier  who  lies  in  yonder 
cemetery  fell  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  and  in  the  moment  of  victory. 
In  the  order  that  General  Lee  issued  announcing  his  death,  he  reminded 
the  corps  that  had  followed  Jackson  through  so  many  perils,  that,  while 
a  whole  nation  would  weep  at  his  tomb  and  cherish  his  virtues,  it  was 
their  privilege  to  be  in  a  peculiar  manner  the  guardians  of  his  honor  and 
his  memory.  Those  veterans  felt  this  to  be  their  noblest  trust,  and 
from  the  day  that  Stuart  gave  the  order  at  Chancellorsville,  "  Charge, 
and  remember  Jackson!"  to  the  last  scene  of  the  war,  it  was  to  them  a 
sacred  inspiration.  On  many  a  bloody  field  the  weak  arm  was  nerved 
and  the  dying  heart  consoled  by  the  consciousness  that  the  trust  had 


i70  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

been  fitly  kept ;  and  it  is  a  proud  satisfaction  to  the  survivors  that, 
though  the  thirty  thousand  whom  Jackson  had  commanded  at  Chan 
cel!  orsville  had  dwindled  to  a  few  hundred  at  Appomattox,  these  had  yet 
the  honor  of  firing  the  last  gun,  and  that  the  order  for  surrender  found 
them  in  line  of  battle  and  engaged  with  the  foe. 

u  '  From  this  day,  gentlemen,  a  similar  trust  is  confided  to  us — 
the  authorities,  the  alumni,  and  the  students  of  Washington  College. 
While  a  mighty  people  how  in  crushing  sorrow  over  the  tomb  of  Robert 
E.  Lee,  and  do  reverence  to  his  ashes,  the  privilege  and  obligation  rest 
especially  with  us  to  perpetuate  the  memory  and  influence  of  his 
virtues.  His  last  great  work,  that  to  which  he  devoted  the  latest  and 
in  many  respects  the  grandest  years  of  his  life,  drops  unfinished  from 
his  hands  into  ours.  Let  us  take  it  up  and  carry  it  forward,  feeling 
conscious,  as  we  must,  that  this  is  the  most  pleasing  and  appropriate 
tribute  that  grateful  affection  can  pay  to  the  illustrious  dead. 

"  '  His  plans  for  the  organization  of  this  college  were  of  the  wisest 
and  most  complete  character.  They  are  his  legacy  to  us.  What  honor 
so  noble  can  we  do  to  his  name  as  to  realize  his  intentions,  and  make 
this  what  he  desired  it  should  be,  the  first  institution  of  the  land  ?  In 
so  doing  we  shall  but  follow  in  his  own  footsteps.  For  the  controlling 
motive  with  him  in  selecting  this  particular  place  as  the  scene  of  his 
labors  was  the  fact  that  here  they  would  constitute  a  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  Washington.  And  the  reflection,  though  sad,  renders  the 
obligation  resting  on  us  all  the  more  sacred,  that,  less  fortunate  than  his 
great  prototype,  there  remains  but  this  work  alone  of  all  the  labors  of 
a  lifetime  to  testify  to  future  ages  of  a  grand  and  noble  career.  Mis 
fortune  has  swept  away  all  he  strove  for,  save  this.  If  the  memory 
of  his  virtues  is  to  be  kept  green  through  coming  time,  it  must  be 
done  here,  gentlemen,  and  through  the  influences  which  go  out  from 
here. 

"  '  As  has  beep  already  said,  the  trustees  and  Faculty  of  Washington 
College  recognize  the  high  privilege  and  sound  obligation  that  rest 
upon  us  all,  and  their  most  earnest  and  devoted  efforts  will  be  directed 
toward  carrying  out  the  designs  of  General  Lee,  and  in  this  way  toward 
rearing  a  fitting  memorial  of  his  character.  But  theirs  is  only  a  part 
of  the  work.  With  you  rest  the  interests  and  welfare  of  the  institution. 
Let  the  affection  which  you  now  feel  and  manifest  for  it  continue  with 
you  as  a  cherished  sentiment  through  life.  Guard  constantly,  both 
here  and  elsewhere,  its  honor;  labor  for  its  prosperity  and  usefulness; 
remember  it  always  as  a  trust  committed  to  your  keeping  by  the  hero 
who  watched  over  you  with  the  wisdom  of  a  sage,  and  the  tenderness 
of  a  father.' " 


SELECTIONS   FROM   EULOGIES   ON  GENERAL   LEE.         471 

The  Virginia  Military  Institute,  located  in  Lexington,  and  in 
deed  all  of  the  colleges  of  the  South,  gave  utterance  to  similar 
sentiments.  The  following  may  be  given  : 

"  SUPERINTENDENT'S  OFFICE,  VIRGINIA  MILITARY  INSTITUTE,  ) 
LEXINGTON,  VA.,  October  12, 1870.     J 

"The  Academic  Board  met  at  the  call  of  the  superintendent  at 
10  A.  M. 

"  Present,  all  the  members  except  General  G.  W.  C.  Lee. 

"  The  superintendent  announced  to  the  Academic  Board  the  death 
of  General  E.  E.  Lee,  whereupon,  on  motion,  the  following  minute  was 
ordered  to  be  spread  upon  the  records  of  the  board. 

"  We  feel,  in  a  degree  which  no  words  can  adequately  express,  sor 
row  at  the  death  of  one  who  was  so  distinguished  by  position,  so  illus 
trious  for  his  deeds,  and  so  noble  in  character. 

"  Our  whole  land  has  suffered  by  the  blow,  and  our  whole  land  will 
mourn,  while  distant  nations  will  not  withhold  the  sympathy  awakened 
by  the  death  of  one  whose  life  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  world,  and 
whose  moral  excellences  inspired  love  and  admiration  in  the  hearts  of 
all  the  good. 

"  To  us,  as  a  Faculty,  however,  the  blow  comes  with  peculiar  force. 

"  We,  individually,  knew  him  as  a  neighbor  and  friend ;  but,  as  a 
Faculty,  we  were  bound  to  him  by  closer  ties,  as  a  fellow-laborer  in  the 
same  cause,  and  as  the  father  of  one  of  the  professors  of  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute. 

"  We  therefore  feel  a  particular  grief,  and  claim  the  privilege  of 
special  mourners. 

41  To  Mrs.  Lee  and  her  family  we  offer  the  expression  of  our  sympathy 
for  his  death,  of  our  pride  in  the  life  of  our  hero,  and  of  our  assurance 
of  the  glorious  immortality  of  the  earnest  Christian. 

"  To  the  Faculty  of  our  sister  institution  we  beg  to  convey  our  sense 
of  the  great  loss  they  have  sustained  by  the  death  of  their  president, 
whose  efforts  in  the  cause  of  education  have  shed  such  lustre  upon  Wash 
ington  College. 

"  Resolved,  That  General  Smith,  Superintendent,  and  Commander 
Maury,  be  appointed  a  committee  to  present  the  above  extract  from 
our  record  to  Mrs.  Lee  and  the  Faculty  of  Washington  College,  with 
the  tender  of  our  cooperation  as  a  Faculty  in  whatever  mode  may  be 
acceptable  in  the  solemnities  of  the  occasion. 

"  A  true  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  Academic  Board. 

"  F.  H.  SMITH,  JE.,  Secretary." 


472  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

"  General  Order  No.  26. 
41  HEADQUARTERS,  VIRGINIA  MILITARY  INSTITUTE,  October  12, 1870. 

"  The  painful  duty  devolves  upon  the  superintendent  to  announce  to 
the  professors,  officers,  and  cadets  of  the  Virginia  Military  Institute, 
the  death  of  General  K.  E.  Lee. 

"  He  died  at  his  residence  at  half-past  nine  o'clock  this  morning, 
after  an  illness  of  two  weeks. 

"Every  heart  in  our  Southern  land  will  receive  the  sad  tidings  ot 
the  death  of  General  Lee  as  a  personal  bereavement.  All  will  feel  it  to 
be  such,  for  he  had  secured  by  his  heroic  devotion  to  duty,  by  his  un 
bending  moral  rectitude,  by  his  elevated  Christian  principles,  and  by  his 
tender,  sympathizing  regard  for  others,  not  only  the  admiration,  but 
also  the  love  of  his  countrymen. 

"  Moving  among  us  as  he  did,  in  his  earnest  yet  unobtrusive  work 
as  the  president  of  our  sister  institution,  Washington  College,  we  have 
witnessed  in  his  daily  life  the  exhibition  of  those  noble  qualities  which 
have  made  his  name  known  and  honored  throughout  the  civilized 
world. 

"  It  is  meet,  then,  that  the  professors,  officers,  and  cadets,  of  the  Vir 
ginia  Military  Institute  should  honor  the  memory  of  Lee. 

"  It  is  therefore  ordered  : 

"That  all  academic  duties  and  drills  be  suspended  until  after  his  in 
terment. 

"  That  the  battalion  flag  be  draped  in  mourning  for  the  period  of  six 
months. 

"  That  the  professors,  officers,  and  cadets,  wear  the  usual  badge  of 
mourning  for  the  same  period. 

"That  the  professors,  officers,  and  cadets,  attend  in  a  body  his 
funeral,  and  unite  in  paying  such  honors  to  the  memory  of  the  illustri 
ous  dead  as  shall  be  consistent  with  the  wishes  of  his  family,  and  the  ar 
rangements  of  the  authorities  of  Washington  College. 

"  By  command  of  Major-General  F.  H.  SMITH, 

"F.  H.  SMITH,  JK.,  Adjutant  V.  M.  /." 

The  following  is  the  conclusion  of  an  address  delivered  at 
the  Kentucky  Military  Institute,  by  Rev.  R.  A.  Holland: 

"I  rejoice,  young  gentlemen,  that  I  can  find  an  embodiment  of  this 
sublime  integrity  of  character  in  a  hero — not  of  the  past,  but  of  the 
present — not  of  some  distant  realm,  but  of  your  own  suffering  land — 
not  of  foreign  birth,  but  of  blood  brother  to  that  which  in  your  veins 
leaps  with  enthusiasm  at  the  mention  of  his  name. 


SELECTIONS  FROM  EULOGIES  ON   GENERAL  LEE.         473 

"I  rejoice  that  we  possess  a  model  of  manhood  worth  more  to  our 
noblest  attributes  than  all  the  fortunes  spent  in  the  terrible  war  that 
unveiled  his  grandeur  to  our  gaze. 

"  Whatever  may  have  been  the  errors  of  the  South— errors  for  which, 
if  they  were  committed,  she  has  made  sufficient  atonement  in  costliest 
hecatombs — the  world  is  indebted  to  her  for  a  gift  that  will  enrich  man 
kind  forever.  That  gift  is  the  example  of  a  man  who,  in  civil  war, 
when  hate  rages  to  flesh  its  fangs  in  hostile  hearts,  wins  the  admiration  of 
his  enemies;  who  charms  envy  into  love  and  awes  malice  into  silence; 
who  from  the  smoke  and  carnage  of  battle  comes  forth  with  a  brow 
unstained  by  dishonor  and  hands  unclotted  by  cruelty ;  who,  although 
victor  in  a  hundred  fights  against  such  odds  of  troops  and  treasures  as 
skill  never  vanquished  before,  allows  no  word  of  boasting  to  soil  his 
pure  lips  and  acknowledges  his  success  only  in  modest  ascriptions  of 
gratitude  to  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  who,  marching  forward  in  the  perilous 
path  of  duty,  refuses  a  moment's  pause  for  dalliance  with  that  fame 
which  others  must  follow,  but  which,  like  one  entranced,  tracks  his 
steps  and  courts  the  condescension  of  his  kingly  glance ;  who,  as  he 
kneels  under  triumphs,  rises  above  reverses,  and  when  the  last  blow  is 
struck  and  genius  can  no  longer  cope  with  force,  surrenders  his  sword 
with  the  same  equanimity  with  which  he  had  ever  wielded  it,  and  re 
ceives  it  back  in  mute  testimonial  that  none  but  himself  is  worthy  to 
wear  a  weapon  whose  blade  blazes  with  a  lustre  of  purity  and  prowess 
bright  as  the  cimeters  of  Eden's  sentinels. 

"Great  in  victory,  greater  still  in  defeat;  great  as  descried  through 
the  red  haze  of  war,  greater  still  as  contemplated  through  the  clear  air 
of  peace ;  great  as  a  general,  but  greatest  as  a  man — behold  in  him  a 
character  which,  if  not  perfect,  conceals  its  faults  with  the  effulgence 
of  its  virtues,  even  as  the  sun  conceals  the  spots  on  its  dazzling  disk.  I 
need  not  call  his  name ;  nor  need  History,  when  she  carves  for  the  high 
est  niche  in  her  Pantheon  a  statue  to  represent  manhood  apotheosized 
by  its  own  glory,  inscribe  beneath  it  a  name  which  the  very  design  of 
the  statue  speaks  aloud — the  immortal  name  of  LEE." 

The  following  was  the  conclusion  of  a  sermon  preached  in 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Nashville,  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
October  23,  1870,  by  Rev.  Dr.  T.  V.  Moore,  the  discourse  being 
delivered  at  the  request  of  a  meeting  of  citizens,  and  before  an 
immense  congregation  of  the  best  people  of  the  city  : 

"It  was  with  all  this  heroic  sense  of  duty  that  General  Lee  tendered 
his  services  first  to  his  own  State,  and  then  to  the  Confederacy,  of  which 


474  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

she  became  a  component  part.  And  he  knows  but  little  of  this  great 
captain  who  thinks  that  it  was  with  any  thing  of  a  divided  heart  that  he 
linked  himself  to  the  fortunes  of  the  Southern  people.  His  whole  heart 
was  with  them  to  the  last  sad  close ;  and  I  speak  that  which  I  know, 
when  I  say  that  he  would  gladly  have  laid  him  down  in  a  soldier's  grave, 
had  such  been  the  will  of  God,  rather  than  survive  the  cause  for  which 
he  fought.  Indeed,  he  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  survived  it,  for  he 
has  been  slowly  dying  ever  since.  His  physicians  testify  that  there  was 
no  reason,  in  his  splendid  pJiysique,  why  he  should  not  have  lived  for 
many  years ;  but  those  who  have  closely  observed  him  since  the  fatal 
field  of  Appomattox,  have  seen  that  he  received  his  death-wound  there ; 
and,  although  his  manly  spirit  has  been  hiding  it  the  while,  the  heart 
bled  on  in  secret,  wrung  by  the  woes  and  wrongs  of  his  beloved  people, 
by  the  sorrowful  letters  he  was  continually  receiving  from  maimed  vet 
erans,  impoverished  widows,  and  suffering  orphans,  vainly  begging  for 
some  opening  to  earn  their  bread,  and  by  the  sorrowful  struggles  of  his 
people  to  repair  their  fallen  fortunes,  struggles  so  often  doomed  to  the 
cruelest  disappointment,  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  sadly  true  that, 
although  for  five  long,  weary  years  his  mighty  heart  was  breaking,  yet 
at  the  last  it  did  give  way,  and  he  died  of  a  broken  heart,  a  victim  of 
the  war,  as  truly  as  any  of  his  heroic  comrades  in  arms,  whose  heart's 
blood  flowed  more  swiftly  and  easily  on  the  battle-field. 

"And  yet  with  all  his  intensity  of  devotion  to  the  Southern  cause, 
there  was  mingled  none  of  that  bitterness  and  fierceness  that  a  civil  war 
is  so  likely  to  engender,  and  of  which  ours  contains  such  mournful  illus 
trations.  Under  provocations  the  most  severe,  his  calm  and  well-poised 
mind  never  yielded  to  the  impulse  of  vindictive  emotion,  and  never 
allowed  itself  to  be  goaded  beyond  the  rules  of  honorable  warfare. 
When  he  led  his  armies  into  Pennsylvania,  he  issued  the  most  stringent 
orders  against  pillaging  and  the  wanton  destruction  of  private  property, 
and  severely  punished  the  slightest  infraction  of  these  orders,  even  to 
the  disturbance  of  a  fence  needlessly,  so  that  the  people  on  his  line  of 
march  acknowledged  that  they  fared  better  at  his  hands  than  they  did  in 
the  hands  of  the  troops  sent  to  oppose  him,  their  own  professed  friends 
and  protectors.  It  was  this  sublime  elevation  above  the  fierce,  vindic 
tive  passions  of  the  hour  that  excited,  even  during  the  war,  the  wonder 
of  his  enemies. 

"There  was,  indeed,  in  his  nature  a  singular  vein  of  gentleness  and 
tenderness,  softening  his  sterner  attributes  of  character.  His  natural 
purity  and  dignity,  moulded  by  the  etiquette  of  military  life,  gave  him  a 
certain  stateliness  of  bearing,  before  which  meanness  and  vice  instinc 
tively  shrank,  so  that  no  thoroughly  bad  man  could  feel  at  ease  in  his 


SELECTIONS  FROM  EULOGIES  ON   GENERAL   LEE.         475 

presence,  any  more  than  could  Satan  in  the  presence  of  Ithuriel.  But 
in  the  company  of  children,  and  especially  of  young  girls,  there  was  a 
winning  gentleness  and  a  playful  familiarity  that  removed  all  reserve 
from  them,  and  made  him  a  special  favorite  of  children.  Indeed,  among 
them  he  was  a  child  again;  and,  had  he  been  in  that  small  circle  within 
which  Jesus  set  up  a  little  child  to  teach  the  lesson  of  true  greatness,  there 
perhaps  would  have  been  no  heart  there  which,  in  its  warming  love  to 
the  little,  sweet,  unconscious  teacher,  would  have  been  better  fitted  than 
his  to  receive  the  deep  and  wise  instructions  of  the  Master.  It  was 
thus  in  the  fine  harmonious  balance  of  head  and  heart,  and  the  even 
development  of  the  powers  of  each,  without  any  exaggeration,  that  we 
find  the  beautiful  and  full-orbed  completeness  of  his  nature,  linking  him 
in  deathless  association  with  that  peerless  man  whom  he  so  much  re 
sembled,  who,  in  the  memorable  words  uttered  by  one  of  his  owu  rel 
atives,  '  was  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen.' 

"  There  are  many  passages  of  grandeur  in  his  long  and  honorable 
life,  but  the  grandest  of  them  all  was  its  closing  five  years,  when  the 
fine  gold  of  his  nature  stood  the  stern  and  fiery  test  of  adversity.  It 
was  a  wondrous  spectacle  to  see  him  defending  the  beleaguered  capital  of 
the  Confederacy  with  an  army  of  half-clad,  half-fed,  and  half-equipped 
men,  outnumbered  six  to  one,  and  so  reduced  at  last  in  numbers  that 
had  they  formed  aline  behind  the  long  sweep  of  fortifications  they  were 
defending,  that  line  would  have  been  so  attenuated  that  the  men  could 
scarcely  have  touched  each  other  with  their  muskets,  and  yet  a  band  of 
heroes,  who  felt  no  throb  of  anxiety  or  dread  as  long  as  they  knew  that 
that  noble  gray  head,  with  its  falcon-eye,  was  watching  over  them  with 
more  than  a  father's  tenderness  and  care.  But  other  men  have  been 
great  warriors,  yet  only  great  in  success.  It  was  his  to  show  his  utter 
most  greatness  in  failure.  Other  men  had  conquered  victory ;  it  was  his 
sublime  preeminence  to  conquer  defeat,  and  transform  it  into  the  grand 
est  triumph.  Other  warriors  have  betrayed  ambition,  cruelty,  and  ava 
rice  in  success,  weakness,  littleness,  and  selfishness  in  disaster;  but  he 
developed  the  unselfish  nobleness  of  his  nature  when,  bowing  submis 
sively  to  the  resistless  decrees  of  Providence,  he  sheathed  his  unsullied 
blade ;  and  refusing  the  most  tempting  offers  to  engage  in  commercial 
and  monetary  enterprises ;  refusing  the  gifts  that  a  grateful  though  im 
poverished  people  longed  to  lavish  on  him ;  refusing  every  attempt  to 
bring  him  where  public  applause  would  so  heartily  have  greeted  him 
— he  retired  to  the  cloistered  shades  of  his  chosen  position,  without 
a  word  of  repining  or  bitterness,  and  consecrated  himself  to  the  youth 
of  his  country,  not  to  breathe  into  them  a  spirit  of  vindictive  hate ;  not 


476     REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

to  train  them  for  future  political  struggles  merely,  but  to  lead  them  to 
Jesus,  and  make  them  noble  citizens,  by  making  them  sincere  Christians, 
lion.  II.  W.  Hilliard,  ex-member  of  the  Federal  Congress,  made  a  speech 
in  Augusta,  Ga.,  at  the  meeting  there  held  to  do  honor  to  the  memory 
of  General  Lee,  in  which  he  said : 

" '  An  offer,  originating  in  Georgia,  and  I  believe  in  this  very  city, 
was  made  to  him  to  place  an  immense  sum  of  money  at  his  disposal  if  he 
would  consent  to  reside  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  represent  Southern 
commerce.  Millions  would  have  flowed  to  him.  But  he  declined.  He 
said:  "No,  I  am  grateful,  but  I  have  a  self-imposed  task,  which  I  must 
accomplish.  I  have  led  the  young  men  of  the  South  in  battle;  I  have 
seen  many  of  them  fall  under  my  standard.  I  shall  devote  my  life  now 
to  training  young  men  to  do  their  duty  in  life."  ' 

"  Oh  !  does  history  present  a  spectacle  that  in  grandeur  can  be  com 
pared  with  that  ?  An  English  nobleman,  standing  beside  the  corpse  of 
his  dead  boy,  exclaimed  to  one  who  sought  to  comfort  him,  '  I  had 
rather  have  my  dead  son  than  all  the  living  sons  in  England.'  And  so, 
with  a  truer,  fonder  pride,  may  we  exclaim,  *  We  would  rather  have 
our  dead  hero  than  all  the  living  heroes  of  Christendom.' 

"  The  closing  scene  of  his  life  was  calm  and  peaceful,  as  became  a 
Christian  soldier.  When  Stonewall  Jackson  lay  dying,  his  mind  was 
wandering  over  the  scenes  of  the  battle-field,  leading  his  fiery  columns 
through  the  smoke  and  thunder  of  the  conflict,  until  his  spirit  seemed  to 
emerge  from  these  troubled  scenes  and  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  sweet 
fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood,  when  he  softly  whispered,  '  Let  us  pass 
over  the  river  and  rest  under  the  trees,'  and  he  sweetly  fell  asleep  to 
awake  where  the  'river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  comes  forth 
from  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb.'  Somewhat  similar  was  the  dy 
ing  scene  of  our  great  captain.  In  the  wanderings  of  his  delirium  he,  too, 
was  once  more  at  the  head  of  those  battle-scarred  columns  of  veterans, 
whom  he  had  so  often  led  to  victory.  Perhaps,  again  he  spurred  his 
fiery  charger,  as  in  the  terrible  scenes  of  Spottsylvania,  when  his  daunt 
less  men  seized  his  bridle-rein,  and  refused  to  move  a  step  until  their 
beloved  leader  had  withdrawn  from  danger,  when,  with  one  wild  shout 
of  fierce  enthusiasm,  they  hurled  themselves  upon  the  serried  masses  of 
the  foe.  Perhaps  he  moved  once  more  on  the  bloody  heights  of  Gettys 
burg,  where  he  nobly  assumed  the  responsibility  of  disasters  that  were, 
doubtless,  due  mainly  to  others,  and  was  greater  in  failure  than  other 
men  in  success.  And  it  was  a  striking  coincidence  with  the  dying  scene 
of  Jackson,  as  well  as  a  noble  tribute  to  a  gallant  man,  who  poured  out 
his  blood  in  the  trenches  of  Petersburg,  that  they  should  both  have  called 
for  the  brave  and  high-souled  A.  P.  Hill  in  the  wanderings  of  delirium. 


SELECTIONS  FROM   EULOGIES   ON   GENERAL   LEE.         477 

At  last,  as  if  he  saw  that  the  hour  had  come,  when  'the  earthly  house 
of  this  tabernacle '  was  to  be  taken  down,  he  exclaimed,  *  Strike  the 
tent !  '  and  Death  obeyed. 

'  His  spirit,  with  a  bound, 

Burst  its  encumbering  clay ; 
His  tent  at  noontide  on  the  ground, 
A  darkened  ruin  lay.' 

"  He  passed  over  the  river  to  recline  under  the  trees,  where  *  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at  rest.' 

"  And  now  we  must  leave  this  noble  life  to  teach  its  own  lessons,  for 
time  will  not  permit  their  elaboration.  Young  men,  who  have  idolized 
the  name  of  Lee,  will  you  not  heed  his  deep  and  earnest  desire  that  you 
should  all  be  real  Christians,  and  come  to  Jesus  ?  Confederate  soldiers, 
I  have  seen  some  of  your  comrades,  and  possibly  some  of  you,  following 
this  great  leader,  ragged,  hungry,  tracking  the  snow  with  blood  from 
your  naked  feet,  and  yet  cheerful,  because  you  were  following  him.  Oh ! 
will  you  not  follow  him  now,  as  he  followed  Christ — follow  him  to  the 
cross,  follow  him  to  the  crown,  follow  him  to  heaven?  Let  his  manly 
voice  come  down  to  you  from  the  crystal  battlements,  saying,  '  Come  up 
hither! '  and  may  you  meet  him  there  !  Brethren  and  sisters,  of  every 
name  and  rank,  of  every  section  and  shade  of  opinion,  you  may  differ  or 
agree  with  me  in  my  estimate  of  this  great  man,  but  you  cannot  differ 
with  me  in  the  conclusion  that  it  is  a  blessed  thing,  like  him,  to  sleep  in 
Jesus,  and  be  at  rest.  And  hence,  by  all  that  is  precious  in  the  death 
of  the  righteous,  do  I  beseech  you  to  accept  that  Saviour  whose  service 
is  compatible  with  the  highest  types  of  human  nobleness  and  the  grand 
est  examples  of  human  courage,  whose  grace  can  support  you  in  the 
darkest  hour  of  earthly  sorrow,  and  whose  strong  rod  and  beautiful  staff 
will  sustain  you  in  the  dark  valley,  and  bring  you  where  you  '  shall  see 
the  King  in  his  beauty,  and  behold  the  land  that  is  very  far  off".' 

"During  the  darkest  days  of  the  Revolution,  Washington  exclaimed 
on  one  occasion  :  '  Strip  me  of  the  dejected  and  suffering  remnant  of  my 
army  ;  take  from  me  all  that  I  have  left;  leave  me  but  a  banner;  give 
me  but  the  means  to  plant  it  on  the  mountains  of  West  Augusta,  and  I 
will  yet  draw  around  me  the  men  who  will  lift  up  their  bleeding  country 
from  the  dust  and  set  her  free.'  Beneath  the  shadow  of  these  West  Au 
gusta  mountains,  from  whose  hardy  sons  the  rich  plains  of  Tennessee 
have  been  so  largely  populated,  stands  that  college,  endowed  by  the  mu 
nificence  of  Washington,  and  called  by  his  name,  over  which  Lee  pre 
sided  until  his  death,  and  within  whose  chapel-walls  his  remains  are  now 
sleeping.  Within  the  sound  of  its  bell  is  the  grave  of  Stonewall  Jack- 


478  REMINISCENCES  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

son.  These  grand  old  mountains,  then,  stand  a  fitting  monument  of  this 
mighty  triumvirate,  a  majestic  mausoleum  of  three  majestic  men ;  and, 
as  long  as  their  gray  summits  shall  catch  the  early  rays  of  morning,  or 
hold  lovingly  the  last  lingering  flush  of  the  setting  day,  as  long  as  the 
crystal  streams  that  gush  from  their  rocky  sides  shall  flow  onward  to 
the  sea,  so  long  shall  every  wind  that  wakes  the  meanings  of  the  moun 
tain-pine,  and  every  wave  that  stirs  the  echoes  of  the  valley,  continue 
to  prolong  the  mighty  dirge  of  a  people's  woe  for  these  three  bright,  im 
mortal  names  *  that  were  not  born  to  die.' 

4  They  fell  devoted,  but  undying, 
The  very  gales  their  names  are  sighing, 
The  silent  pillar,  cold  and  gray, 
Claims  kindred  with  their  sacred  clay ; 
Their  spirits  wrap  the  dusky  mountain, 
Their  memory  sparkles  o'er  the  fountain, 
The  meanest  rill,  the  mightiest  river, 
Eoll  mingling  with  their  fame  forever.'  " 

The  following  conclusion  of  a  sermon,  preached  at  the  Second 
Baptist  Church,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  T. 
Brantly,  from  the  text  "  He  is  a  good  man,"  may  be  appropri 
ately  introduced  here : 

"  The  discussion  of  the  subject  is  closed  ;  but  it  finds  such  a  beauti 
ful  illustration  in  the  character  of  the  beloved  man  whose  decease,  with 
in  the  past  few  days,  has  filled  millions  of  hearts  with  unaffected  grief, 
that  this  discourse  would  be  strikingly  incomplete  without  some  exhibi 
tion  of  the  fact.  It  is  rare  that  a  Christian  minister  can  present  one  of 
earth's  most  illustrious  sons  as  an  example  of  a  good  man,  in  the  sense  in 
which  the  honorable  attestation  was  borne  to  Barnabas.  It  happens 
but  too  rarely  that  the  qualities  which  command  the  admiration  of  the 
world  are  found  in  unison  with  a  devout  life,  but  General  Lee  was 
as  good  as  he  was  distinguished.  He  honored  Christ,  and  was,  in  turn, 
honored  by  him. 

"  My  subject  does  not  require  me  to  speak  of  him  as  a  soldier,  though 
I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that,  in  my  view,  he  will  take  rank  among  the 
most  sagacious  of  commanders  of  any  age  or  of  any  country.  None  knew 
this  better,  conceded  it  more  readily,  than  did  the  brave  men  against 
whom  he  fought.  I  said,  one  day,  to  the  officer  who  led  the  United 
States  troops  on  the  bloody  field  in  Pennsylvania,  where  such  a  severe 
disaster  befell  the  Confederate  arms,  '  Do  you  know,  general,  why  you 
beat  us  at  Gettysburg?  It  was  because  Stonewall  Jackson  was  not 
there.'  *  You  are  mistaken,  sir,'  was  the  reply ;  *  I  have  fou-nd  many 


SELECTIONS  FROM  EULOGIES   ON   GENERAL  LEE.         479 

Southerners  who  believed  that  Jackson  was  their  great  general,  but  it  is 
not  so.'  '  Whom,' then,'  I  inquired,  '  did  you  look  upon  as  the  ablest  offi 
cer  of  our  side  ? '  '  General  Lee,'  was  the  reply — 4  General  Lee,  sir,  un 
doubtedly.  He  is  your  greatest  man.'  And  in  harmony  with  this  opin 
ion  has  been  the  testimony,  voluntarily  tendered,  of  the  highest  military 
authorities  of  Europe,  both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 

"  The  great  soldier  is  not  unfrequently  the  man  of  irrepressible  am 
bition,  intent  only  on  the  aggrandizement  of  self.  But,  to  military  abili 
ties  of  the  highest  order,  Lee  added  a  pure,  self-sacrificing  patriotism. 
He  has  been  often  censured  for  identifying  his  fortunes  with  the  South  ; 
but,  with  his  convictions  of  duty,  he  could  not  have  done  otherwise. 
He  was  educated  in  the  doctrine  that  the  Federal  Government  was  the 
creature  of  the  States,  and  that  allegiance  was  due  it  only  through  his 
native  State.  When,  therefore,  Virginia  withdrew  from  the  Union  by 
a  convention  legally  assembled,  entertaining  the  ideas  he  did,  he  felt 
constrained  to  follow  her  fortunes. 

"  He  had  strong  temptations  to  take  a  different  view  of  his  political 
status.'  He"  was  an  officer  in  the  United  States  Army,  and  held  a  position 
in  public  esteem  second  only  to  that  of  the  aged  commander-in-chief 
of  the  army.  Had  he  arrayed  himself  against  his  State,  the  probability 
is,  that  the  triumphs  achieved  by  others  would  have  been  his  victories, 
and  the  rewards  of  place  would  have  been  his  conpensation.  But,  act-, 
ing  under  the  stern  promptings  of  conscience,  he  turned  from  the  most 
splendid  prizes  which  ever  allured  the  eye  of  man,  and  took  his  position 
with  the  feeble  minority ;  counting  it  higher  honor  to  hazard  defeat  and 
calamity  with  the  weak  than  to  triumph  with  the  strong.  He  has 
been  called  a  'subjugated  rebel;'  but  the  candid  and  the  intelligent 
who  so  pronounce,  must  concede  that,  in  accordance  with  the  political 
theory  received  from  his  fathers  and  held  by  himself,  he  was  a  patriot 
of  the  highest  type. 

"  But  if  he  had  been  no  more  than  a  soldier  and  a  patriot,  I  should 
not  have  presented  him  as  an  illustration  of  my  theme.  He  was  a 
Christian  man;  and  his  piety  shed  a  hallowed  lustre  over  qualities  nat 
urally  shining,  investing  them  with  a  higher  beauty  than  secular  re 
nown  can  bestow.  The  evidence  on  which  I  rely  for  this  fact  is  not  that 
he  was  a  professor  of  religion ;  for,  alas !  there  is  much  profession  in 
these  days  where  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  power  of  godliness  is  want 
ing.  '  His  doctrine  and  his  life  coincident  gave  lucid  proof  that  he  was 
honest  in  the  sacred  cause.'  If  you  will  refer  to  his  public  papers,  writ 
ten  during  the  war,  you  will  see  that  he  never  failed,  whenever  oppor 
tunity  offered,  to  call  the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  great  Disposer 
of  all  human  events,  and  to  inspire  them  with  gratitude  or  submission, 


480  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

as  the  circumstances  might  suggest.  Even  in  a  brief  telegraphic  dispatch, 
he  rarely  fails  to  make  mention  of  the  Sovereign  Ruler  of  all.  I  know  it 
may  be  said  of  public  men,  noted  for  irreligion  and  profanity,  that  they 
have  often  made  pious  allusions  in  their  state  papers;  but  those' who 
knew  General  Lee  in  private,  could  not  fail  to  remark  that  religion  was 
with  him  something  more  than  an  empty  name ;  that  it  was  a  power 
lodged  in  the  heart  and  controlling  his  whole  nature.  It  was  my  privi-V 
lege,  during  the  past  two  years,  to  be  thrown  into  his  society,  at  differ 
ent  times,  so  intimately  that  I  saw  and  conversed  with  him  every  day 
and  frequently  several  times  a  day.  I  discovered  that,  with  him,  reli 
gion  was  the  theme  on  which  he  most  delighted  to  dwell.  He  spoke  to 
me  with  great  interest  of  the  efforts  made  by  different  denominations  of 
Christian  people  to  promote  the  spiritual  good  of  the  soldiers.  lie  took 
pleasure  in  referring  to  the  numbers  who  he  hoped  had  been  brought  to 
the  Saviour  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  chaplains  and  visiting 
ministers.  Speaking  to  me,  last  June,  of  the  college  under  his  control, 
he  referred  more  than  once,  evidently  with  the  greatest  satisfaction,  to 
the  number  of  students  who  had  been  hopefully  converted  during  the 
term  then  just  closed.  He  also  mentioned  with  much  interest  the  work 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  among  the  students.  "When 
a  guest  at  his  house,  the  first  thing  with  which  he  greeted  me,  on  com 
ing  down  in  the  morning,  was  the  Bible,  with  a  request  that  I  should 
lead  the  devotions  of  the  family ;  and  when,  after  reading  God's  word, 
we  knelt  down  together,  his  prompt  and  cordial  responses  attested  the 
earnestness  with  which  he  adopted  the  petitions  ad-dressed  to  the  Throne 
of  Grace. 

"  I  have  said  that  his  piety  pervaded  his  whole  character.  Three 
things  particularly  struck  me  as  I  observed  him  : 

"  1.  His  conscientiousness.  He  was  called  to  fill  a  position  where 
the  trustees  asked  for  but  his  name,  willing  to  relieve  him  of  any  duty 
save  that  which  he  chose  to  assume.  But  he  chose  to  be  very  labori 
ous.  Breakfasting  at  an  early  hour,  he  devoted  his  whole  time  to  the 
interest  of  the  pupils ;  and  when  it  is  remembered  that  there  were 
three  hundred  and  fifty  young  men  under  his  supervision,  it  is  manifest 
that  his  energies  must  have  been  seriously  taxed.  So  deep  was  the  in 
terest  which  he  took  in  the  personal  welfare  of  the  students,  that  each 
one  of  this  large  number  was  known  to  him  by  name,  and  he  was  con 
stantly  carrying  on  an  extensive  correspondence  with  the  patrons  of 
the  college  in  regard  to  their  sons  and  wards. 

"2.  His  humility  was  strikingly  apparent.  There  was  nothing  in 
his  demeanor  to  indicate  that  he  considered  himself  any  thing  more  than 
an  ordinary  citizen.  Some  men  of  distinguished  position  never  seem  to 


SELECTIONS  FROM   EULOGIES  ON   GENERAL   LEE.         481 

lose  sight  of  the  fact  themselves,  and  to  exhibit  to  others  such  a  de 
meanor  that  you  would  think  they  were  anxious  to  remind  their  asso 
ciates  of  their  superiority ;  but  no  one  would  have  inferred,  from  any 
thing  that  was  apparent  in  the  bearing  or  conversation  of  General  Lee, 
that  he  was  in  the  company  of  a  man  who  was  admired  and  eulogized 
by  millions. 

41  If  any  man  in  the  country  had  reason  to  be  proud,  it  was  he.  De 
scended  from  sires  who  filled  conspicuous  places  in  the  early  history  of 
the  republic,  both  in  the  cabinet  and  the  field,  graduating  with  the 
first  honor  from  the  highest  military  school  in  the  country,  the  constant 
recipient  of  praise  from  multitudes,  what  a  temptation  to  poor  human 
nature  to  be  puffed  up  and  vain !  But,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  honors 
that  were  heaped  upon  him,  he  seemed  wholly  unconscious  to  any  su 
perior  claims  upon  the  consideration  of  his  friends;  and  you  never 
heard  from  him  the  remotest  allusion  indicating  a  self-complacent  or 
proud  temper. 

"  3.  More  beautiful  still  was  his  charity.  The  grace,  which  both  Paul 
and  Peter  mentioned  as  a  crowning  excellence,  was  an  obvious  fruit 
of  his  piety.  It  is  hard  for  men,  who  have  been  disappointed  and  over 
thrown,  to  suppress  vindictive  emotions  toward  the  victors.  Passion 
will  occasionally  rise  to  ebullition,  and  revengeful  words  will  be  spoken. 
But  who  ever  heard  a  vindictive  expression  from  Lee?  I  was  with  him 
in  kis  own  home,  and  conversed  with  him  in  all  the  freedom  and  famili 
arity  of  domestic  intercourse,  but  I  cannot  recall  a  single  word  he  ever 
uttered  in  denunciation  of  those  against  whom  he  fought  for  four  years. 
The  war  closed,  he  seemed  most  desirous  to  heal  the  cruel  breaches  it 
had  made.  He  refused  to  go  to  Gettysburg,  last  summer,  as  you  re 
member,  to  participate  in  a  service  which  proposed  to  preserve  me 
morials  of  the  war,  declaring  that  all  mementos  of  the  unhappy  strife 
should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  obliterated.  A  gentleman  told  me  that, 
observing  at  the  Springs,  in  Virginia,  some  persons  from  the  North,  who 
seemed  to  be  wholly  unacquainted  with  any  of  the  guests,  Generel  Lee 
introduced  himself  to  them,  and  then  presented  them  to  his  friends 
This  little  incident  is  an  illustration  of  his  charity.  '  He  that  ruleth  his 
spirit  is  mightier  than  he  that  taketh  a  city.'  Some  of  the  most  illustri 
ous  conquerors  of  cities  have  been  overthrown  by  their  own  passions. 
Tried  by  the  divine  test,  he  was  a  greater  man  than  Caesar  or  Alexan 
der.  His  was  the  glorious  sublimity  of  self-conquest.  He  wears,  I 
doubt  not,  to-day,  the  crown  which  glittered  to  the  eye  of  that  Christian 
soldier  who  said,  ( I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course, 
I  have  kept  the  faith,  and  now  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown/  We 
mingle  our  tears  over  a  common  calamity,  but  the  hand  of  Jesus  has 
31 


482  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

wiped   the  last  tear  from  his  eye.     He  has  gone  where  'the  wicked 
cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at  rest.' 

"Young  men  !  I  hold  up  before  you  the  lamented  Lee  for  your  im 
itation.  Follow  him  as  he  followed  Christ.  You  cannot  acquire  the 
military  renown  which  he  achieved.  Few  have  the  endowments  which 
he  possessed.  None  of  you,  probably,  will  ever  see  such  an  occasion  of 
distinction  as  that  which  he  knew.  But  you  can  imitate  him  in  that 
which  we  now  feel  was  his  highest  earthly  glory,  and  which  is  the 
ground  of  his  rejoicing  in  the  skies.  You  can  emulate  his  virtues,  you 
can  find,  as  did  he,  true  greatness  in  true  goodness.  The  crown  which 
is  bright  for  him,  when  all  other  laurels  have  faded,  may,  through  a 
like  faith,  be  that  in  which,  living,  you  may  exult,  and,  dying,  you  may 
glory." 

A  gentleman  of  New  York  has  given  the  author  several  in 
cidents  confirmatory  of  statements  made  in  the  body  of  the  vol 
ume  which  may  be  appropriately  inserted  here.  During  an  in 
timate  acquaintance  with  General  Scott,  this  gentleman  heard 
him  speak  frequently  in  the  very  highest  terms  of  Colonel  Robert 
E.  Lee  as  a  soldier  and  a  Christian  gentleman,  but  he  remembers 
one  occasion  when  in  the  course  of  a  confidential  interview  he 
asked  the  direct  question :  "  General,  whom  do  you  regard*  as 
the  greatest  living  soldier  ? "  Without  hesitation,  and  with 
marked  emphasis,  General  Scott  replied  :  "  Colonel  Robert  E. 
Lee  is  not  only  the  greatest  soldier  of  America,  but  the  greatest 
soldier  now  living  in  the  world.  This  is  my  deliberate  convic 
tion,  from  a  full  knowledge  of  his  extraordinary  abilities,  and,  if 
the  occasion  ever  arises,  Lee  will  win  this  place  in  the  estima 
tion  of  the  whole  world."  The  general  then  went  into  a  detailed 
sketch  of  Lee's  services,  and  a  statement  of  his  ability  as  an 
engineer,  and  his  capacity  not  only  to  plan  campaigns,  but  also 
to  command  large  armies  in  the  field,  and  concluded  by  saying : 
"  I  tell  you,  sir,  that  Robert  E.  Lee  is  the  greatest  soldier  now 
living,  and  if  he  ever  gets  the  opportunity  he  will  prove  himself 
the  great  captain  of 'history '." 

About  May  1,  1861,  this  same  gentleman,  accompanied  by 
a  Maryland  Congressman,  sought  an  interview  with  General 
Scott,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  passport  to  Richmond  to  try 
and  do  something  toward  averting  a  resort  to  arms.  Tn  the 


SELECTIONS   FROM   EULOGIES   OX   GENERAL   LEE.         483 

course  of  this  interview  General  Scott  again  passed  the  highest 
eulogy  upon  General  Lee  as  a  soldier  and  a  man ;  stated  the 
fact  that  the  chief  command  of  the  United  States  Army  had  been 
tendered  him  just  before  he  left  Washington  for  Richmond;  said 
that  he  would  have  given  way  most  cheerfully  if  they  could 
have  persuaded  Lee  to  accept  it,  and  expressed  himself  as  deep 
ly  regretting  the  loss  to  the  country  sustained  in  Lee's  resigna 
tion.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  felt  confident  that  Lee  would 
do  every  thing  in  his  power  to  avert  the  war,  and  would,  if  it 
came  to  a  conflict  of  arms,  conduct  it  on  the  highest  principles 
of  Christian  civilization.  He  cheerfully  granted  the  gentlemen 
a  permit  to  go  to  Richmond,  and  said :  "  Yes  !  go  and  see  Rob 
ert  Lee.  Tell  him,  for  me,  that  we  must  have  no  war,  but  that 
we  must  avert  a  conflict  of  arms  until  the  '  sober  second 
thought '  of  the,  people  can  stop  the  mad  schemes  of  the  poli 
ticians." 

These  gentlemen  went  to  Richmond,  and  had  a  long  inter 
view  with  General  Lee.  He  most  cordially  reciprocated  the 
kindly  feelings  of  General  Scott,  and  expressed  his  ardent  desire 
to  avert  war,  and  his  willingness  to  do  any  thing  in  his  power 
to  bring  about  a  settlement  of  the  difficulties. 

But  he  expressed  the  fear  that  the  passions  of  the  people, 
North  and  South,  had  been  too  much  aroused  to  yield  to  pacific 
measures,  and  that  every  effort  at  a  peaceful  solution  would 
prove  futile.  Alluding  to  Mr.  Seward's  boast  that  he  would 
conquer  the  South  in  "  ninety  da3rs,"  and  to  the  confident  asser 
tions  of  some  of  the  Southern  politicians  that  the  war  would  be 
a  very  short  one,  General  Lee  said,  with  a  good  deal  of  feeling : 
"  They  do  not  know  what  they  say.  If  it  comes  to  a  conflict  of 
arms,  the  war  will  last  at  least  four  years.  Northern  politicians 
do  not  appreciate  the  determination  and  pluck  of  the  South,  and 
Southern  politicians  do  not  appreciate  the  numbers,  resources, 
and  patient  perseverance  of  the  North.  Both  sides  forget  that 
we  are  all  Americans,  and  that  it  must  be  a  terrible  struggle  if 
it  comes  to  war.  •  Tell  General  Scott  that  we  must  do  all  we  can 
to  avert  war,  and  if  it  comes  to  the  worst,  we  must  then  do 
every  thing  in  our  power  to  mitigate  its  evils." 

The  lamented  Colonel  John  B.  Baldwin,  of  Staunton,  who 


184  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.   LEE. 

was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  " Union  party"  in  the  Virginia 
Convention,  but  who  (like  General  Early  and  others  of  his 
party),  when  the  contest  came,  threw  into  the  cause  of  his  native 
State  his  great  intellect  and  untiring  zeal,  related  the  following 
incident,  which  may  be  appropriately  given  here :  While  acting 
as  Adjutant -General  of  Virginia,  and  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty  to  muster  into  the  service  new  recruits,  Colonel  Baldwin 
one  day  found  in  one  of  the  companies  twenty-five  or  thirty 
youths  under  the  prescribed  age.  He  told  them  that  he  could 
not  receive  them,  under  the  regulations,  and  the  brave  boys 
were  very  much  disappointed,  and  clamored  to  see  General  Lee. 
Coming  into  the  presence  of  the  general,  they  begged  him  to 
allow  them  to  enlist,  and  promised  that  they  would  prove  them 
selves  worthy  to  march  by  the  side  of  their  fathers  and  elder 
brothers.  General  Lee  was  very  much  affected  by  their  appeal, 
but  told  them  that  he  could  not  receive  them,  that  they  must 
go  home  and  take  care  of  their  mothers  and  sisters,  and  that  he 
would  send  for  them  when  they  were  needed.  After  the  young 
men  had  left,  General  Lee  said  to  Colonel  Baldwin :  "  Those  are 
beautiful  boys,  sir,  and  I  very  much  disliked  to  refuse  them ;  but 
it  will  not  do  to  allow  boys  to  enlist  now.  I  fear  we  shall  need 
them  all  before  this  war  closes." 


ADD  HESS 

ON  THE  CELEBRATION   OF  THE  FIRST  MEMORIAL  ANNIVERSARY 
AT  WASHINGTON  AND  LEE  UNIVERSITY,  JANUARY  19,  1871, 

BY 

JAMES  P.   HOLCOMBE,   LL.  D., 

OF   VIEGINIA. 


INTRODUCTORY   NOTE. 


THE  following  Address  is  printed  from  the  original  manu 
script  of  the  author.  When  invited  to  furnish  it  for  publication 
in  the  once  projected  MEMORIAL  VOLUME,  Mr.  Holcombe  under 
took  to  revise  and  expand  it  for  the  press,  but  death  arrested 
him  in  the  midst  of  this  labor  of  love.  Yet  the  Committee  of 
Publication  were  not  willing  to  lose  this  beautiful  tribute  to 
General  Lee,  from  one  of  the  most  accomplished  orators  of  the 
South,  and  his  family  generously  consented  to  place  the  unfin 
ished  manuscript  at  our  disposal.  It  has  been  edited  by  careful 
and  affectionate  hands  ;  yet  it  is  only  right  to  say  that  no  printed 
oration  can  convey  any  idea  of  the  fervor,  the  eloquence,  and 
the  charm  of  its  delivery.  The  committee  feel  that  the  value 
of  these  memorials  of  Lee  are  enhanced  by  this  touching  me 
morial  of  the  gifted  and  eloquent  HOLCOMBE,  whose  untimely 
death  is  mourned  by  so  many  friends  as  a  loss  irreparable  to  the 
literature,  the  education,  and  the  society  of  his  native  Virginia. 

THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  FACULTY  OF 

WASHINGTON  AND  LEE  UNIVERSITY. 


ADDRESS. 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  FACULTY  OF 
WASHINGTON  AND  LEE  UNIVERSITY  :  I  approach  the  duty  which 
lies  before  me  with  unaffected  diffidence  and  emotion.  The  living 
form  of  ROBERT  E.  LEE  no  longer  graces  the  seat  of  honor  in  your 
assembly ;  but  the  inspiration  of  his  spirit  survives  in  this  hall, 
which  was  the  scene  of  his  last  labors,  and  the  souls  of  a  mourn 
ing  people  encircle,  as  with  an  ocean  of  love,  that  tomb  which 
contains  all  that  is  left  of  him.  No  eloquence  could  find  voice 
for  the  feelings  which  spring  up  within  our  bosoms  on  this  im 
mortal  day,  and  upon  this  consecrated  spot :  feelings  of  grief  at 
his  loss,  of  reverence  for  his  character,  pride  in  his  glory,  grati 
tude  for  his  services,  thankfulness  for  his  life,  and  devotion  to 
his  memory.  Others  will  lay  upon  the  altar  of  his  fame  those 
rich  and  abundant  offerings  which  can  alone  satisfy  the  just 
measure  of  its  requirements.  Let  my  imperfect  but  willing 
service  be  supplied  from  the  fullness  of  your  recollections,  and 
from  the  tenderness  of  your  hearts. 

A  great  life  has  closed — a  life  upon  which  the  longer  we 
linger  the  more  we  shall  find  to  love  and  revere,  for  it  was  one 
over  which  virtue  will  scarce  breathe  a  sigh,  and  to  which  fame 
could  hardly  add  a  chaplet.  It  was  a  life  which,  in  every  season, 
relation,  and  employment,  was  crowned  with  all  that  wins  the 
affection  and  commands  the  homage  of  mankind.  It  was  a  life 
in  which  the  fallen  hero  of  a  lost  cause  became  the  centre  of  that 
admiring  contemplation  which  is  wont  to  follow  the  conqueror  in 
his  ovations ;  and  in  which  achievements  of  arms  as  brilliant  as 
ever  blazoned  a  warrior's  crest,  or  adorned  a  nation's  story,  were 
so  ennobled  by  the  exhibition  of  nobility  of  soul  with  which 
they  were  associated,  that  we  almost  lose  sight  of  the  soldier 


488  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

in  gazing  on  the  image  of  the  grander  MAN.  It  was  a  life 
which  spanned  the  extremes  of  triumph  and  of  calamity,  but 
which  was  so  transfigured  by  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  that  its 
lines  of  suffering  are  even  more  lustrous  than  its  lines  of 
glory.  If  other  lives  have  been  sown  more  thickly  with  the  glit 
tering  stars  of  human  honor,  or  have  rejoiced  more  abundantly 
in  the  gifts  of  earthly  fortune,  none  have  been  more  richly  dow 
ered  with  the  love  of  man,  or  more  divinely  radiant  with  the  be 
atitudes  of  God : 

"  There  flowed  from  its  mysterious  urn  a  sacred  stream,  in  whose  calm 

depths  the  beautiful  and  pure 
Alone  were  mirrored  ;  which,  though  shapes  of  ill  might  hover  round 

its  surface,  rolled  in  light, 
And  took  no  shadow  from  them." 

Death,  which  withers  the  roses  and  flowers  of  kings,  and  lays 
in  dust  the  pride  and  pomp  of  ambition,  has  no  power  over  such 
a  life  but  to  touch  it  with  lines  of  heaven,  and  seal  it  for  immor 
tality.  On  you,  my  countrymen,  has  descended,  with  a  solemn 
emphasis  of  obligation,  its  sacred  charge  of  fame.  Accept  this 
so  gratefully,  and  guard  it  so  piously,  that  the  consolation,  in 
struction,  arid  blessing  of  this  life,  may  reach  not  only  the  gen 
eration  which  it  embraced,  but  all  the  generations  which  are  to 
come.  On  our  children  and  our  children's  children,  on  distant 
nations  and  remote  ages,  on  that  collective  humanity  which  it 
has  elevated  and  adorned,  let  the  grand  example  shine.  Let 
history  inscribe  it  on  unfading  scrolls ;  let  poetry  embalm  it  in 
imperishable  songs ;  let  sculpture  and  painting  pour  round  it 
their  brightest  inspiration  ;  let  eloquence  on  its  successive  anni 
versaries  wake  it,  as  with  a  trumpet  of  resurrection,  to  glorv 
again  ;  and  on  the  undying  echoes  of  tradition 

u  Let  it  roll  from  soul  to  soul, 
And  grow  forever  and  forever !  " 

The  county  of  Westmoreland  is  hallowed- ground,  for  it  con 
tains  two  spots  which  men  will  tread  with  reverence  to  the  end 
of  time.  The  one  is  the  birthplace  of  George  Washington, 
the  other  of  Robert  E.  Lee.  The  latter  was  born  on  the  19th 
of  January,  1807,  before  the  generation  associated  with  the 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  489 

former  in  the  most  important  labors  of  his  life  had  passed  away. 
It  was  the  happy  fortune  of  young  Lee  to  be  nursed  on  the 
breast  of  gentle  manners,  and  to  breathe  from  infancy  the  pure 
air  of  honor,  patriotism,  and  virtue.     His  mother  was  a  daugh 
ter  of  'the  family  of  Carter,  long  distinguished  in  the  annals  of 
our  Virginia  colony  for  the  munificent  application  of  large  wealth 
to  purposes  of  charity,  learning,  and  religion.     His  father  was  a 
gentleman  of  ancient  lineage,  an  illustrious  patriot  of  the  Revo 
lution,  an  eminent  soldier,  and  the  historian  of  the  struggle  for 
independence  in  the  South,  the  Governor  of  this  Commonwealth, 
the  life-long  personal  and  political  friend  of  Washington,  and 
the  orator  selected  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  pro 
nounce  his  eulogy.     Robert,  when  only  eleven  years  old,  was 
deprived,  by  the  death  of  his  father,  of  paternal  counsel  and  sup 
port.     There  is  a  single  reference  to  him  in  the  correspondence 
of  the  elder  Lee,  which,  however  trivial  at  the  time,  cannot  be 
read  now  without  melancholy  pleasure.     After  some  inquiries 
about  other  members  of  his  family   (for  it  was  written   while 
abroad),  he  adds :  "  Robert  was  always  good,  and  in  this  happy 
turn  of  mind  he  will  doubtless  be  confirmed  by  his  ever-watch 
ful   and  affectionate  mother."     And  truly,  through  the  diligent 
hand  of  that  pious  mother,  did  the  Celestial  Husbandman   train 
the  tender  plant  of  his  youthful  nature,  until  it  expanded  into 
the  full  flower,  and  bore  the  golden  fruitage  of  immortal  virtue. 
At  his  mother's  knee,  that  divinely-appointed  school,  whose  in 
struction  no  other  teacher  can  impart,  and  whose  lessons  when 
faithfully  given  are  worth  all  others  we  receive,  he  learned  his 
obligations  toward  his  Maker  and  his  fellow-man.     Through  her 
vigilant  and  loving  care,  he  formed  those  habits  of  industry, 
economy,  simplicity,  punctuality,  and  scrupulous  performance  of 
duty,  which  distinguished  him  through  life.     With  what  devo 
tion  he  repaid  her  tender  solicitude  may  be  imagined  from  her 
own  words,  when  he  was  about  leaving  her  for  West  Point : 
"  How,"  she  exclaimed  to  a  friend,  in  an  uncontrollable  burst  of 
emotion,  "  can  I  ever  live  without  him  ?  He  has  been  son,  daugh 
ter,  protector — he  has  been  all  in  all  to  me !  "    The  child  was 
father  to  the  man;  and  in  him,  if  ever,  was  realized  the  aspira 
tion  of  the  poet — that  his  days  might  be 


490  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

• 

"  Bound  each  to  each  by  natural  piety." 

In  1825  he  received  an  appointment  to  West  Point  as  a  cadet 
from  Virginia.  The  expense  of  his  education  was  no  bounty 
from  the  Federal  Government,  but  the  payment  of  a  debt  to  his 
native  Commonwealth,  whose  contributions  to  the  Federal 
Treasury  entitled  her  to  place  a  certain  number  of  her  sons  at 
this  public  institution,  and  which  were  more  than  sufficient  to 
defray  every  disbursement  on  their  behalf.  The  golden  hours  of 
opportunity  were  not  consumed  in  vicious  indulgence,  nor  was  ted 
in  debasing  sloth.  So  diligently  was  his  time  improved,  that  in 
one  of  the  largest  classes  which  had  ever  left  the  academy  he  grad 
uated  the  first  in  military  and  the  second  in  general  standing. 
And  so  faithfully  were  the  most  exacting  requirements  of  dis 
cipline  observed  that,  during  his  term  of  four  years,  not  a  single 
demerit  was  attached  to  his  name.  Such  was  the  presage  of  his 
future,  as,  crowned  with  the  fairest  laurels  of  youth,  and  arrayed 
in  spotless  robes,  his  Alma  Mater  presented  him  to  his  country. 
An  early  culture  of  the  classics,  prosecuted  at  least  in  the  case 
of  the  Latin  at  intervals  through  life,  had  imparted  to  his  mind 
a  more  liberal  cast  than  can  be  communicated  by  the  mathe 
matical  and  scientific  training  of  a  purely  military  school ;  his 
faculties  had  been  disciplined  and  strengthened,  furnished  with 
useful  knowledge,  and  fitted  for  the  discharge  of  the  highest 
duties  of  his  profession  ;  his  passions  had  been  placed  under  the 
control  of  a  purified  reason,  and  his  ambition  consecrated  to  noble 
ends.  Among  the  moral  influences  which  were  most  operative 
in  the  formation  of  his  character  during  this  plastic  period,  three 
are  conspicuous.  The  first  was  the  social  atmosphere  in  which 
he  was  born  and  raised.  An  old  and  settled  society  existed  in 
Virginia,  rich  in  the  traditions  of  centuries,  characterized  by 
simplicity  of  manners,  genial  courtesy  and  hospitality,  purity 
and  refinement  of  domestic  life,  honor,  dignity,  manliness,  and 
patriotism  among  public  men,  and  a  general  and  unaffected 
respect  for  religion,  its  officers  and  ministers.  Robert  E.  Lee  was 
early  and  deeply  imbued  with  the  tastes,  sentiments,  opinions, 
and  habits  of  this  society.  Washington  was  not  more  truly  its 
type  and  representative  during  that  colonial  and  revolutionary 


IIOLCOMBES  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  401 

period  in  which  it  still  bore  the  shining  impress  of  the  aristo 
cratic  institutions  of  England,  than  was  Lee  of  its  later  age  of 
republican  simplicity.  The  second  was  his  own  veneration  for 
the  character  of  Washington.  The  attachment  of  the  elder  Lee 
to  Washington  was  almost  idolatrous,  and  this  mingled  love  and 
reverence  descended  to  his  children. 

When  Robert  was  very  young,  the  family  removed  to 
Alexandria,  and  he  became  a  frequent  visitor  at  Arlington,  where 
the  memory  of  Washington  was  almost  as  much  the  genius  of 
the  place  as  at  Mount  Vernon.  He  grew  up  amid  scenes  which 
constantly  recalled  the  Father  of  his  Country,  and  in  a  social 
circle  where  the  recollection  of  his  virtues  was  yet  fresh.  It  is 
not,  therefore,  surprising  that  this  exalted  character  should 
have  brooded  as  an  ideal  over  the  dreams  and  meditations  of 
his  youth.  His  modesty  may  have  never  permitted  a  statement 
which  would  have  challenged  such  a  comparison,  but  the  impres 
sion  was  produced  upon  his  classmates  and  early  companions 
that  it  was  the  model  upon  which  he  was  seeking  to  fashion  his 
own  character.  In  the  simple  yet  manly  tastes  and  habits,  in 
the  dignity  of  carriage  which  forbade  too  familiar  approach,  in 
the  unequaled  modesty,  in  the  command  of  temper,  in  the  noble 
self-restraint,  in  the  impartial  justice,  in  the  inflexible  adherence 
to  truth,  in  the  uniform  and  scrupulous  discharge  of  duty,  in  the 
chastened  ambition  of  young  Lee,  they  saw  reflected,  as  in  the 
mirror  of  youth,  the  severe  and  majestic  image  of  Washington. 
The  last  of  these  influences  was  a  deep  and  abiding  reverence 
for  religion.  He  did  not  become  a  member  of  the  church  until 
after  his  return  from  Mexico ;  but  his  regular  attendance  upon 
its  services,  and  the  singular  rectitude  of  his  conduct,  leave  no 
doubt  that  he  was  seeking  amid  those  temptations  of  ambition 
and  pleasure,  which  assailed  his  opening  manhood,  to  make  the 
divine  canon  his  supreme  law,  and  to  mould  his  character  in 
accordance  with  that  comprehensive  precept  of  apostolic  wisdom : 
"Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honest, 
whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatso 
ever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report :  if 
there  be  any  virtue,  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things." 

In  1832  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Custis,  the  daughter 


£92  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   E.  LEI^. 

of  George  Washington  Parke  Custis,  who  was  the  grandson  of 
Mrs.  Washington,  the  adopted  son  of  Washington,  and  the  last 
survivor  of  the  household  of  Mount  Vernon.  He  was  thus 
brought  still  more  closely  within  that  gracious  and  hallowed 
influence  which  already  like  a  tutelary  genius  overshadowed  his 
life. 

No  event  of  historical  significance  marks  his  career  until  the 
commencement  of  the  Mexican  War.  He  had  gradually  risen  to 
the  rank  of  captain,  discharging  every  duty  that  was  assigned  to 
him  with  a  fidelity  and  distinction  which  were  the  earnest  of 
larger  fame.  The  Mexican  War,  like  the  Seven  Years'  War  which 
preceded  the  Revolution,  proved  to  be  a  training-school  of  great 
soldiers.  Captain  Lee  was  attached  to  the  engineer  corps  of  the 
central  army,  and  took  part  in  that  wonderful  campaign  from 
Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital  of  Mexico.  His  rank  furnishes  no 
measure  either  of  the  services  which  he  rendered  or  of  the  con 
fidence  which  was  reposed  in  him.  He  was  the  favorite  staff- 
officer  of  General  Scott,  and  the  latter  has  been  heard  to  say,  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  that  his  success  was  owing  in  a  great 
degree  to  the  skill,  valor,  and  undaunted  energy  of  Robert  E.  Lee. 
His  ability  as  an  engineer  led  to  the  speedy  reduction  of  Vera 
Cruz ;  a  daring  reconnoissance  which  he  made  for  more  than  a 
mile  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy's  lines  contributed  largely  to  the 
victory  of  Cerro  Gordo ;  his  gallantry  at  Contreras  in  crossing 
at  night,  alone,  and  through  the  Mexican  skirmishers,  a  lava- 
field  almost  impassable  at  any  time,  and  doubly  dangerous  from 
recent  floods,  opened  communication  between  the  main  body  of 
the  American  army  and  an  isolated  command  under  General 
Smith,  and  thus  secured  the  decisive  triumph  which  followed  on 
the  morrow ;  and  in  the  final  struggle  around  the  heights  of 
Chapultepec,  where  he  was  severely  wounded,  his  courage  and 
endurance  elicited  the  thanks  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and 
were  rewarded  by  a  third  brevet  of  honor.  Well  might  Scott 
refer  to  him  as  "  Captain  Lee,  so  constantly  distinguished  as 
well  for  daring  as  for  felicitous  conception  and  execution."  It 
is  no  injustice  to  any  of  the  brave  men  with  whom  he  was 
associated  to  affirm  that  not  one  returned  home  around  whose 
name  had  gathered  such  a  halo  of  promise,  while  he  was  re- 


HOLCOMBE'S  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  493 

garded  in  popular  judgment  as  the  noblest  representative  of 
our  country's  chivalry. 

"  From  spur  to  plume,  a  star  of  tournament,"  the  prescient 
eye  of  the  commander-in-chief  had  discerned,  and  his  generous 
tongue  proclaimed,  that  "  Lee  was  the  greatest  living  soldier  of 
America." 

Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war,  Colonel  Lee  took  upon 
himself  the  vow  to  fight  manfully  as  Christ's  soldier,  a  vow 
which  was  never  forgotten  nor  disregarded  until  in  the  silence 
of  a  dying-chamber  his  upward-pointing  finger  revealed  the 
soul's  hope  and  expectation  of  reward.  Prosperous  fortune  had 
showered  on  him  the  choicest  of  earthly  blessings,  a  loving  fam 
ily,  troops  ol'  friends,  large  wealth,  spotless  fame,  and  a  con 
science  void  of  offense  toward  God  and  man.  But  the  horizon 
of  his  country  was  already  darkening  with  the  dread  shadows 
of  civil  war.  Opposing  theories  of  constitutional  construction 
and  obligation,  as  well  as  of  public  policy,  developed  at  the  for 
mation  of  the  Constitution,  after  consuming  more  than  half  a 
century  in  fierce  struggles  for  ascendency,  were  now  being  im 
pelled  on  mighty  tides  of  angry  passion  toward  a  bloody  arbit 
rament.  At  the  commencement  of  that  awful  drama  in  which 
he  was  to  perform  so  great  a  part,  Colonel  Lee  was  with  his 
regiment  upon  the  Texan  frontier.  About  the  last  of  February, 
1861,  he  was  summoned  to  Washington  to  sit  on  a  board  of 
officers  convened  to  revise  the  regulations  of  the  arm}'-.  The 
signs  of  public  excitement  which  he  observed  on  his  route  to  the 
capital,  filled  him  with  the  liveliest  fear  of  a  hostile  collision 
between  the  Confederate  States  and  the  United  States.  These 
apprehensions  were  expressed  to  General  Scott  at  their  first 
interview,  coupled  with  the  remark  that  in  such  an  event  his 
own  position  would  become  one  of  great  delicacy.  He  was  as 
sured  in  reply  that  the  Government  had  no  fears  of  such  a  result. 
After  this  conversation,  his  time  was  spent  almost  entirely  with 
his  family  at  Arlington.  He  had  no  further  communication  with 
General  Scott,  or  any  officer  in  the  confidence  of  the  President, 
as  to  his  purposes  and  plans,  until  the  commencement  of  hostili 
ties,  when  he  was  informally  tendered  the  command  of  the  army 
of  the  United  States  in  the  field. 


494  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

Virginia,  although  deeply  moved  by  sympathy  with  her 
sister  States  of  the  South  and  by  common  wrongs,  had  clung  to 
the  Union  in  loyal  hope,  until  the  alternative  was  presented  to 
her  of  taking  part  in  the  unnatural  and  unconstitutional  war  on 
communities  sprung  from  her  loins,  or  of  receiving  the  first  and 
deadliest  shock  of  embattled  legions  upon  her  own  unshielded 
bosom.  In  this  hour  of  supreme  peril  she  was  faithful  to  prin 
ciple  and  to  honor.  With  a  solemnity  imposed  by  the  full 
knowledge  of  her  extreme  danger,  with  a  sorrow  befitting  the 
severance  of  so  many  bonds  of  friendship  and  of  fame,  but  with 
the  dignity  of  conscious  rectitude,  and  with  the  fearless,  grand 
resolve  of  freedom,  she  repealed  the  ordinance  which  had  made 
her  a  member  of  the  Federal  Union,  resumed  her  ancient  inde 
pendence,  and  summoning  her  children,  wherever  scattered,  to 
her  side,  threw  herself,  with  the  shout  of  a  king,  along  the  path 
of  invasion. 

The  voice  of  Virginia  in  distress  did  not  fall  unheeded  upon 
the  ear  of  Robert  E.  Lee.  It  pierced  his  bosom  with  the  keenest 
anguish,  for  he  loved  the  Union  with  a  generous  and  passionate 
devotion.  Had  it  been  possible  to  close  its  yawning  chasm  by 
the  sacrifice  of  his  own  life,  no  Roman  Curtius  could  have  leaped 
more  freely  into  the  gulf  of  death.  But  the  Union  around  which 
were  centred  his  affections  and  his  obligations  was  not  a  con 
solidated  Union,  in  which  great  communities,  like  his  own 
mother  Commonwealth,  were  sunk  to  the  level  of  petty  counties, 
but  a  Federal  Union  between  sovereign  and  equal  States.  The 
Union  which  he  had  sworn  to  serve  had  been  dissolved  by  the 
power  which  brought  it  into  existence ;  and  its  dissevered  and 
exasperated  sections  were  now  gathering  up  their  every  energy 
for  a  deadly  struggle.  Bloody  hands  had  rent  in  twain  their 
fellowship  of  glory  and  communion  of  patriotism ;  and  the  Gov 
ernment  which  yet  claimed  the  name  and  flag  of  the  Union  was 
preparing  to  replace  its  ancient  bonds  of  liberty  and  love — 
bonds  woven  by  celestial  fingers,  and  consecrated  by  the  holiest 
and  tenderest  recollections — with  iron  links  of  conquest  forged 
in  a  fiery  furnace  of  war.  Could  any  selfish  or  ignoble  consider 
ations  have  controlled  Colonel  Lee,  he  would  have  remained  in 
the  Federal  army.  He  was  opposed  to  the  policy  of  secession 


IIOLCOMBE'S  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  495 

He  had  been  through  life  a  friend  of  emancipation.  "If  I  owned 
four  million  slaves,"  he  had  declared,  "  I  would  give  them  all 
for  the  Union."  His  calm,  prophetic  judgment  discerned  that 
vast  disparity  in  resources,  preparation,  and  all  the  elements  of 
national  military  strength,  which  imparted  to  the  struggle  from 
its  commencement  the  character  of  a  forlorn  hope.  His  own 
large  property  lay  along  the  border,  to  become  the  first  spoils 
of  Federal  victory.  The  command  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  with  the  glittering  perspective  of  that  great  prize  which 
lies  so  close  to  the  topmost  round  in  the  ladder  of  an  American 
soldier's  fame,  was  held  up  to  his  ambition.  Colonel  Lee's  char 
acter  did  not  permit  him  to  seek  refuge  from  the  perils  and 
duties  of  the  hour  by  occupying  a  position  of  selfish  neutrality. 
The  great  Italian  poet  has  placed  those  who,  during  the  civil 
wars  of  Florence,  sought  escape  from  the  dangers  and  responsi 
bilities  of  citizenship  by  avoiding  the  discharge  of  its  highest 
duty,  in  the  vestibule  of  his  Inferno,  as  men  who,  having  never 
truly  lived,  were  disdained  alike  by  Justice  and  by  Mercy,  and 
unworthy  of  even  a  passing  glance  from  mortal  eye.  This  doom 
of  scornful  oblivion,  pronounced  in  undying  verse,  has  been  con 
firmed  by  the  accordant  sentiment  of  all  succeeding  ages.  The 
only  question  which  Colonel  Lee  considered  was  that  of  com 
parative  obligation  ;  and  this  he  weighed  in  heavenly  balances, 
and  before  the  judgment-seat  of  conscience.  With  a  grief  at 
parting  from  so  many  cherished  friends  and  associations,  which 
in  a  nature  so  noble  no  time  could  heal,  but  with  a  conviction 
of  right  so  clear  that  the  decision  never  cost  an  after-pang  of 
regret,  and  a  resolution  so  firm  that  the  world  could  not  have 
shaken  it,  he  embraced  the  cause  of  his  native  Commonwealth. 
"Our  primal  duties  shine  aloft  like  stars."  There  are  universal 
and  irresistible  instincts,  sympathies,  and  principles,  that  bind 
us  to  the  land  which  is  at  cnce  our  birthplace  and  our  home.  As 
we  grow  in  years,  its  image  becomes  blended  with  all  the  hopes 
and  fears,  the  loves  and  friendships,  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  life. 
The  heart  fastens  round  it  an  allegiance  which  no  strain  of  time 
or  of  fate  can  part,  but  death  alone  unloose  ;  and  if  conscience 
had  no  vindictive  sting,  nor  history  any  voice  of  enduring  re 
proach,  with  which  to  punish  an  apostate  son,  we  might  almost 


496  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

expect  the  mute,  insensate  forms  of  Nature  to  burst  into  speech, 
and  rebuke  the  degeneracy  which  in  danger  or  misfortune  could 
forsake  or  betray  it. 

I  shall  not  pause  in  the  house  of  his  friends  to  justify  this 
action  on  the  part  of  Colonel  Lee.  It  is  pleasing  to  know,  from 
one  who  was  present  when  General  Scott  received  the  manly 
and  pathetic  letter  which  accompanied  his  resignation,  that  this 
great  soldier,  while  expressing  deep  regret  at  the  decision,  gave 
emphatic  utterance  to  his  own  conviction  that  it  had  been  made 
under  an  imperative  sense  of  duty.  The  opinions  of  Colonel 
Lee  were  those  which  had  been  entertained  by  the  great  body 
of  the  people  of  Virginia  ever  since  the  adoption  of  the  Consti 
tution.  His  own  father,  who  was  a  member  of  the  convention 
which  ratified  it,  and  of  the  party  which  placed  on  its  powers 
the  most  liberal  construction,  had  often  avowed  them.  Doc 
trines  far  more  extreme  had  been  proclaimed  by  Jefferson  and 
by  Madison,  yet  the  suffrages  of  the  nation  had  afterward  raised 
these  great  patriots  to  the  highest  offices  within  its  gift.  A 
New-England  President,  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  referring 
to  their  opinions,  had  used  this  language  before  the  House  of 
Representatives :  "  Holding  the  converse  with  a  conviction  as 
firm  as  an  article  of  religious  faith,  I  see  too  clearly  to  admit  of 
denial  that  minds  of  the  highest  order  of  intellect,  and  hearts 
of  the  purest  integrity  of  purpose,  have  been  brought  to  differ 
ent  conclusions." 

No  great  question  of  politics  or  of  ethics  has  ever  agitated 
mankind,  upon  which  wise  and  good  men  have  not  been  almost 
equally  divided.  In  ages  of  bigotry  and  ignorance,  the  trium 
phant  party  punished  its  adversaries  with  confiscation,  torture, 
the  dungeon,  the  axe,  or  the  stake.  A  larger  toleration  of  dif 
ferences  of  opinion  has  been  the  surest  index  of  advancing  civ 
ilization  ;  and  the  time  must  come  when  all  will  recognize  the 
great  truth  that  the  moral  character  of  individuals  cannot  be 
measured  by  the  standards  of  a  creed  which  they  disown ;  that 
the  highest  virtue  is  confined  to  no  sect  or  party ;  and  that  men 
who,  under  a  common  impulse  of  duty,  have  been  led  by  honest 
yet  conflicting  judgments  to  range  themselves  under  hostile 
banners,  may  still  be  united  by  the  higher  and  immortal  bond 


HOLOOMBE'S  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  497 

of  equal  fidelity  to  principle.  Hampden  and  Falkland,  although 
the  one  poured  out  his  blood  for  the  Commonwealth,  and  the 
other  for  the  king1,  are  alike  enshrined  at  this  day  in  the  love 
and  reverence  of  England.  The  sentiment  that  "  treason  should 
be  made  odious,"  wise  and  just  in  its  proper  place,  has  no  ap 
plication,  in  morals  or  public  law,  to  a  civil  strife  between  two 
great  sections  of  a  people,  springing  from  ancient  differences 
of  opinion  as  to  their  constitutional  relations.  Ideas  cannot  be 
slain  by  the  sword ;  and  a  frank  and  loyal  acceptance  of  all  the 
requirements  of  the  situation  has  wrought  no  shadow  of  change 
in  our  convictions  of  truth  and  right.  The  language  of  Lee 
himself,  about  two  years  before  his  death,  expresses  the  uni 
versal  sentiment  of  the  Southern  people.  "  I  did  nothing  more," 
he  observed  to  General  Hampton,  "  than  my  duty  required  of 
me  ;  I  could  have  taken  no  other  course  without  dishonor;  and, 
if  all  were  to  be  done  over  again,  I  should  act  in  precisely  the 
same  manner."  The  "  married  calm  "  of  the  state  can  never  be 
restored  without  a  fuller  measure  on  all  sides  of  that  large- 
hearted  charity  which  is  able  to  recognize  and  revere  the 
strength  and  purity  of  an  adversary's  principles.  And  everv 
attempt  to  dishonor  us  by  attaching  to  our  representative  he 
roes  the  degradation  of  crime,  will  only  serve,  by  prolonging  the 
worst  oppressions  of  conquest,  to  perpetuate  its  deepest  resent 
ments.  I  know  not  how  long  men  may  be  found  who  shall  re 
fuse  reverence  to  the  great  character  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  in  conse 
quence  of  his  participation  in  our  struggle  for  independence — a 
struggle  in  which,  if  we  erred,  we  were  misled  by  splendid  illu 
sions  of  liberty  and  virtue.  But  I  do  know  that  no  calumny  can 
darken  his  fame,  for  History  has  lighted  up  his  image  with  her 
everlasting  lamp ;  that  no  malice  can  profane  his  tomb,  for  the 
whole  earth  has  become  his  sepulchre ;  and  that  no  power  can 
hush  that  funeral-march  which  followed  him  to  the  grave,  and 
yet  fills  the  world  with  the  music  of  sorrow,  for  it  is  beaten 
by  the  loving  pulses  of  the  stricken  hearts  of  his  countrymen. 

Colonel  Lee  became,  by  the  acceptance  of  his  resignation,  a 
private  citizen  of  Virginia.  The  command  of  her  military  and 
naval  forces  >vas  at  once  tendered  to  him,  a  position  which  he 

did  not  feel  at  libertv  to  decline.     He  was  received  l:y  her  con- 
32 


4:98  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

vention,  then  in  session,  with  imposing  ceremony.  The  person 
and  bearing  of  General  Lee  would  have  riveted  the  gaze  of  any 
circle  :  a  form  combining,  in  admirable  proportion,  strength  with 
grace  ;  a  grave  and  lofty  carriage ;  an  air  of  mingled  modesty 
and  command ;  regular  but  expresssive  features ;  hair  whose 
dark  locks  were  just  silvered  by  the  first  frosts  of  life's  maturest 
season ;  a  brow  on  which  dignity  and  honor  sat  enthroned ;  an 

eye — 

"  The  limpid  mirror  of  a  stately  soul, 
Sweet  to  encourage,  steadfast  to  control, 
From  which  subjected  hosts  might  draw, 
As  from  a  double  fountain,  love  and  awe." 

The  president  of  the  convention,  Mr.  Janney,  a  patriot  of  the  old 
Roman  stamp,  in  whom  were  fitly  represented  the  mature  wis 
dom  and  deliberate  virtue  of  the  Commonwealth,  welcomed  him 
to  a  hall  where  could  almost  still  be  heard  the  echoes  of  the 
voices  of  the  statesmen  and  soldiers  of  by-gone  days  who  had 
borne  his  name,  and  whose  blood  was  now  flowing  in  his  veins. 
After  some  eloquent  words  of  patriotic  reminiscence,  and  of  ap 
propriate  reference  to  the  achievements  which  had  pointed  to 
him  as  the  fit  depositary  of  this  great  trust,  Mr.  Janney  closed 
by  saying  that  his  mother,  Virginia,  had  placed  her  sword  in 
his  hands  on  condition  that  it  should  be  drawn  only  in  her  de 
fense,  and  with  the  expectation  that  he  would  rather  fall  with  it 
than  see  the  object  fail  for  which  it  was  unsheathed.  General 
Lee  replied  in  a  manner  marked  by  the  deepest  solemnity: 
"  Trusting  in  Almighty  God,  an  approving  conscience,  and  the 
aid  of  my  fellow-citizens,  I  devote  myself  to  the  service  of  my 
native  State."  How  faithfully  and  how  gloriously  that  pledge 
was  redeemed  let  the  great  sentence  of  history,  the  applause 
with  which  the  world  rang,  and  the  tears  and  benedictions  of 
his  countrymen,  this  day  proclaim ! 

His  services  during  the  first  year  of  the  war  were  compara 
tively  obscure  and  undistinguished — the  organization  of  the  Vir 
ginia  troops,  the  direction  of  the  coast-defenses  in  South  Caro 
lina  and  Georgia,  and  a  campaign  in  Western  Virginia,  which, 
although  it  arrested  the  advance  of  General  Rosecrans,  was  in 
decisive,  and  not  commensurate  with  public  expectation.  But 


HOLCOMBE'S  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  409 

the  period  was  marked  by  many  incidents  which  revealed  to 
those  with  whom  he  was  brought  in  intimate  contact  the  ex 
alted  patriotism  and  noble  magnanimity  of  his  character.  No 
opportunity  was  afforded  for  the  display  of  his  great  military 
genius  until  the  beginning  of  June,  1862,  when  General  John 
ston,  his  illustrious  predecessor  in  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  was  disabled  by  a  wound,  and  Lee  was 
assigned  to  the  vacant  position.  The  limits  of  this  discourse 
do  not  allow  any  detailed  narrative  of  the  subsequent  history 
of  that  army ;  but  a  record  of  more  heroic  valor,  directed  by 
more  consummate  skill  to  the  defense  of  a  people's  liberties,  can 
not  be  found  in  the  annals  of  war.  A  trivial  accident  on  the 
day  of  battle  may  sometimes  defeat  the  wisest  combinations  of 
genius,  and  bestow  the  favors  of  fortune  where  they  are  least 
merited.  But  where  a  series  of  general  engagements,  all  san 
guinary  and  extending  over  different  campaigns,  take  place 
between  opposing  armies  drawn  from  the  same  martial  race,  one 
army  being  always  superior  to  the  other  in  numbers,  arms, 
equipment,  and  artillery,  and  commanded  by  a  succession  of 
distinguished  soldiers,  and  the  inferior  force,  under  a  single 
leader,  in  every  great  conflict  either  inflicts  ignominious  defeat 
on  its  adversary,  or  repels  attack  with  prodigious  loss,  or,  where 
some  strong  position  has  fought  against  it,  delivers  so  stunning 
a  blow  that  its  subsequent  gage  of  battle  is  not  accepted,  the 
conclusion  is  inevitable  that  the  transcendent  ability  of  the  com 
mander,  or  the  inspiration  of  a  higher  principle  with  the  soldiery, 
or  both,  must  have  redressed  the  unequal  balance  of  the  war, 
and  turned  the  scales  of  victory.  And  such,  without  any  refer 
ence  to  its  previous  brilliant  achievements  under  Beauregard 
and  Johnston,  was  the  history  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
under  General  Lee,  from  June,  1862,  to  the  commencement  of 
the  winter  of  1864  and  1865,  when  it  was  no  longer  that  army, 
except  in  name.  In  June,  1862,  after  a  struggle  of  seven  days,  it 
forced  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  McClellan,  then  almost 
in  sight  of  the  spires  of  Richmond,  cowering  back  to  the  shelter 
of  their  gunboats  at  Harrison's  Landing.  In  August,  after  three 
days  of  severe  fighting,  it  hurled  the  Federal  troops  under  Pope 
in  rout  and  panic  into  the  fortifications  around  Washington. 


500  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

Having  crossed  the  Potomac  in  the  grand  but  delusive  hope  of 
lifting  up  down-trodden  Maryland,  it  met  McClellan,  in  Septem 
ber,  at  Sharpsburg,  possessed  by  accident  of  the  inappreciable 
advantage  of  a  knowledge  of  its  own  movements  and  position,  and 
with  a  superiority  of  numbers  greater  than  either  Frederick  the 
Great  or  Napoleon,  in  any  extremity  of  their  fortune,  ever  encoun 
tered,  and  maintaining  intact,  at  every  point,  the  integrity  of  its 
lines,  it  repelled  his  fearful  and  repeated  attacks  with  immense 
slaughter.  In  December,  at  Fredericksburg,  the  mighty  hosts 
of  Burnside  recoiled,  shattered  and  demoralized,  from  its  blows. 
In  the  following  May,  at  Chancellorsville,  it  so  chastised  the 
insolence  of  Hooker,  that  he  was  compelled  to  seek  safety  for 
his  beaten  army  by  .precipitate  retreat,  in  the  darkness  of  a 
stormy  night,  across  the  protecting  stream  of  the  Rappahan- 
nock.  In  June,  advancing  into  Pennsylvania,  it  was  attended  by 
its  usual  current  of  success,  until,  assailing  the  almost  impreg 
nable  heights  of  Cemetery  Hill  at  Gettysburg,  its  inadequate 
force  suffered  a  bloody  repulse ;  but  standing  defiantly  at  bay,  it 
challenged  a  renewal  of  the  combat  again  and  again,  which  its 
enemy  was  afraid  to  deliver.  In  the  next  spring,  when  Grant 
was  called  from  the  West  "  to  fight  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to 
its  utmost  capacity,  and  close  the  war  as  with  a  peal  of  thun 
der,"  its  worsted  but  high-hearted  columns  received  the  masses 
of  fresh  troops  which  were  hurled  on  them  in  succession  from 
the  Wilderness  to  Cold  Harbor  with  such  bloody  welcome  that, 
when  an  order  was  given,  at  the  latter  place,  for  a  general  ad 
vance  along  the  entire  front,  not  a  soldier  moved,  and  the  whole 
immobile  line  presented  silent  but  emphatic  protest  against 
further  carnage. 

"  It  will  be  difficult,"  General  Lee  wrote,  while  collecting 
materials  for  the  history  of  these  campaigns,  "  to  make  the  world 
believe  the  odds  against  which  we  fought."  The  great  victo 
ries  of  Marlborough  were  won  with  numbers  in  general  about 
equal  to  those  of  his  adversaries.  In  only  one  of  Wellington's 
glorious  Peninsular  battles  was  the  disparity  between  the 
French  and  English  as  much  as  two  to  one.  At  Leuthen,  the 
relative  inferiority  of  the  Prussians  more  nearly  approached  that 
of  the  Confederates  (and  that  has  been  regarded  as  the  very 


HOLCOMBES  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  501 

masterpiece  of  military  art) — the  great  Frederick  executed  one 
of  those  brilliant  movements  which  the  nature  of  the  country 
never  permitted  in  Virginia,  and  by  which,  with  thirty  thousand 
men,  he  defeated  an  army  of  eighty  thousand  before  the  latter 
could  change  the  formation  of  its  line  of  battle.  The  Federal 
superiority  at  Sharpsburg  was  as  three  to  one ;  at  Chancellors- 
ville  and  Fredericksburg  it  was  nearly  the  same  ;  at  Gettysburg 
it  was  more  than  three  to  two ;  in  the  campaign  of  the  Wilder 
ness  it  began  with  three  to  one;  and,  but  for  the  slaughter 
which  deprived  General  Grant  of  a  third  of  his  command,  his 
reinforcements  would  have  increased  it  to  four  to  one.  Under 
the  cloud  of  misrepresentations  which  enveloped  our  character 
and  institutions  before  the  war,  the  world  had  begun  to  believe 
that  the  people  of  the  South  were  degenerate  from  the  strain 
of  their  great  fathers,  and  that  we  needed 

"  The  influence  of  a  Northern  star 
To  string  our  nerves,  and  steel  our  hearts  to  war." 

Never  was  the  manhood  of  a  people  more  gloriously  vindi 
cated,  nor  the  strength  which  lies  in  the  love  of  liberty  more 
grandly  displayed,  than  in  this  campaign  between  Lee  and 
Grant.  Not  in  one  battle,  but  in  a  series  of  desperate  engage 
ments  from  the  5th  of  May  to  the  10th  of  June,  and  along  a  line 
of  seventy  miles  in  extent,  did  the  two  armies  wrestle  for  vic 
tory  in  deadly  strife ;  Lee  having  forty  thousand  men  on  the 
first  day,  increased  subsequently  by  eleven  thousand,  and  Grant 
one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  on  the  first  day,  with  reeen- 
forcements  to  the  amount  of  sixty  thousand.  Lee  assumed  the 
offensive  whenever  his  adversary  appeared  in  the  open  field. 
Each  availed  himself  as  far  as  possible  of  the  cover  which  was 
furnished  by  the  nature  of  the  ground,  and  improvised  breast 
works  ;  and  yet,  with  these  tremendous  odds  against  him,  Lee 
disabled  a  larger  number  of  his  enemy's  force  than  his  own  en 
tire  strength,  and  compelled  an  abandonment  of  the  line  which 
he  had  selected  for  his  advance  upon  Richmond,  and  almost  de 
stroyed  the  morale,  not  only  of  his  great  army,  but  of  the  great 
people  whose  cause  it  represented.  "  So  gloomy  was  the  mili 
tary  outlook,"  writes  the  Federal  historian,  Mr.  Svvinton,  "  and 


502  REMINISCENCES  OF   GENERAL  ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

to  such  a  degree,  by  consequence,  had  the  moral  spring  of  the 
public  mind  become  relaxed,  that  there  was  at  this  time  great 
danger  of  a  collapse  of  the  war.  The  history  of  this  conflict, 
truthfully  written,  will  show  this.  Had  not  success  elsewhere 
come  to  brighten  the  horizon,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
have  raised  new  forces  to  recruit  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
which,  shaken  in  its  structurCj  its  valor  quenched  in  blood,  and 
thousands  of  its  ablest  officers  killed  and  wounded,  was  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  no  more." 

There  is  no  campaign  in  history  which  more  completely  es 
tablishes  the  prowess  of  an  army  or  the  skill  of  its  leader.  That 
of  Napoleon,  when  the  allies  invaded  France,  is  one  of  the  two 
on  which  his  military  fame  will  always  securely  rest.  But  the 
allies,  with  a  superiority  of  numbers  scarcely  greater  than  that 
of  Grant  over  Lee,  and  with  no  such  advantages  of  transporta 
tion  and  military  material  of  every  form  as  the  Federal  army 
possessed,  were  able,  in  the  course  of  the  two  months  of  Febru 
ary  and  March,  to  enter  Paris  in  triumph.  The  close  of  the  two 
months  of  May  and  June  found  Grant  sitting  down  to  the  siege 
of  Petersburg  without  an  achievement  which  could  add  to  his 
own  fame,  or  reflect  lustre  upon  the  mighty  host  of  brave  men 
whose  blood  had  been  so  freely  poured  out  in  obedience  to  his 
orders. 

The  strength  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was  never 
broken  in  battle.  No  crowning  victory  like  that  of  Leipsic  or 
Waterloo  gilds,  the  banners  of  its  adversary.  It  did  not  achieve 
the  independence  of  its  country,  but  it  fought  with  a  fierce, 
avenging  courage  which  has  made  the  soil  of  Virginia  from  the 
mountains  to  the  sea  one  vast  monument — 

"  Where  Death  and  Glory  an  eternal  Sabbath  keep." 

It  was  not  until  wasted  by  that  "  process  of  attrition "  through 
which  overwhelming  numbers  and  resources  have  in  all  ages  at 
length  subdued  the  free  and  brave ;  not  until  thinned  and  enfee 
bled  by  disease,  privation,  and  famine ;  not  until  broken  in  heart 
by  the  accumulation  of  disasters  in  other  quarters,  for  which  it 
was  not  responsible,  but  which  left  it  no  reck  of  help  or  hope, 
that  its  long  line  of  glory  was  closed ;  and  then  without  a  mem- 


IIOLCOMBE'S  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  503 

ory  to  awaken  in  its  own  bosom  a  sense  of  shame,  or  give  to  the 
tongue  of  its  foe  a  boast  of  pride. 

General  Lee  was  the  idol  of  his  army.  The  sagacity,  as  un 
erring  as  an  instinct,  with  which  he  divined  the  purposes  of  the 
enemy,  and  the  fertility  of  resource  with  which  he  formed  com 
binations  to  foil  them,  the  cheerfulness  with  which  he  shared 
their  privations,  and  the  solicitude  he  ever  manifested  for  the 
supply  of  their  wants,  inspired  a  confidence  which  no  misfortune 
was  ever  able  to  shake,  and  a  devotion  which  has  never  grown 
cold  but  in  the  grave.  I  have  neither  ability  nor  inclination  to 
offer  any  criticism  upon  his  military  character.  It  is  an  axiom 
among  the  great  masters  of  military  science  that  no  man  has 
ever  made  war  without  committing  mistakes.  The  failures  of 
Lee,  wherever  they  occurred,  may  be  traced,  not  to  any  defect 
in  his  own  plans,  but  to  the  inefficiency  of  subordinates,  the 
want  of  resources,  or  to  obstacles  which  no  power  at  his  disposal 
could  have  removed.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  opinion  to  attribute 
to  him  the  extreme  caution  which  fits  for  defensive  rather  than 
the  bold  and  enterprising  genius  that  delights  in  offensive  war. 
But  a  study  of  his  campaigns,  from  his  first  movement  against 
McClellan  to  the  last  which  preceded  the  evacuation  of  Peters 
burg,  will  disclose  a  strategist  as  daring  as  ever  rode  in  the  whirl 
wind  or  directed  the  storm  of  battle.  It  was  this  audacity  of 
temper,  joined  to  a  confidence  without  limit  in  his  troops,  which 
led  to  the  single  disaster  of  his  military  life,  that  of  Gettysburg ; 
and,  even  there,  had  the  storming  column  been  properly  sus 
tained,  the  supreme  hardihood  of  the  enterprise  would  have  been 
crowned  with  success. 

Not  the  "  Six  Hundred,"  my  countrymen,  better  deserve  the 
meed  of  immortal  renown  than  those  brave  heroes. of  Gettys 
burg  ;  nor,  in  proportion  to  their  respective  numbers,  did  Death 
reap  at  Balaklava  a  ghastlier  harvest  than  on  Cemetery  Hill. 
The  Six  Hundred  rode,  at  swift  cavalry-gallop,  for  twelve  hun 
dred  yards,  into  the  Russian  batteries,  with  cannon  to  right  and 
to  left  and  in  front  of  them,  and  sabred  the  men  at  their  guns. 
This  division  of  Confederate  infantry  marched  for  nearly  a  mile 
across  an  open  field,  exposed  to  the  most  destructive  fire  of  mus 
ketry  and  artillery,  not  with  the  quick  step  of  an  effervescing 


504  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL    ROBERT   E.  LEE. 

enthusiasm,  but  with  the  measured  tramp  of  disciplined  courage ; 
steadily,  through  a  plunging  storm  of  the  missiles  of  destruc 
tion,  they  climbed  the  hill ;  they  cleared  the  rifle-pits,  and,  leap 
ing  on  the  breastworks,  planted  with  exultant  shouts  their  glo 
rious  battle-flags;  for  some  minutes,  "like  eagles  with  bloody 
plume,"  they  stood  triumphant  on  the  crest  of  battle ;  but,  alas  ! 
the  covering  and  supporting  columns  were  not  equal  to  this  he 
roic  devotion,  and  the  only  fruit  of  their  valor  was  a  memory  to 
their  country  which,  through  all  the  ages  of  time,  will  never 
grow  dim. 

Not  military  strategy,  but  the  necessities  of  the  political  sit 
uation,  kept  General  Lee  and  his  army  in  the  trenches  around 
Petersburg.  The  proper  authorities  had  been  informed  that  he 
could  not,  with  thirty-one  thousand  men,  his  whole  strength, 
hold  lines  of  thirty  miles  in  extent ;  and  that,  without  reenforce- 
ment,  he  would  soon  be  unable  to  move  from  them.  They  had 
been  unable  to  furnish  this  aid,  or  even  the  provisions  which 
were  necessary  to  keep  the  men  in  a  physical  condition  to  per 
form  their  duty.  The  sense  of  humanity,  rising  superior  even  to 
the  love  of  liberty,  had  induced  them  to  divide  the  wholly  insuf 
ficient  rations  of  our  own  army  with  the  Federal  prisoners  whom 
they  had  proposed  in  vain  to  restore  without  equivalent,  but 
who  had  been  left  by  their  own  Government,  when  we  were 
known  to  be  in  a  condition  bordering  on  famine,  to  share  the 
horrors  of  our  situation.  After  a  long  and  skillful  concealment 
of  this  extreme  weakness,  the  fatal  blow  was  struck,  and  evacu 
ation  became  unavoidable.  When  General  Lee  reached  Amelia 
Oourt-House,  and  found  that  the  supplies  which  he  had  ordered 
to  be  collected  at  that  point,  the  last  gift  of  their  country  to  his 
perishing  troops,  had  been  sent,  through  some  official  blunder,  to 
Richmond,  the  necessary  dispersion  in  search  of  food  left  scarcely 
a  ray  of  hope  that  his  worn  and  straggling  columns  could  be  con 
centrated  again  for  effective  service.  Thousands  of  brave  men 
dropped  on  the  road  through  sheer  exhaustion  from  want  of  rest 
und  food ;  thousands  more  were  cut  off  in  detachments  too  small 
to  present  a  front  to  the  foe,  until  only  eight  thousand,  com 
pletely  enveloped  in  the  toils  of  the  hunter,  remained  to  hold  up 
the  flag  of  their  country  at  Appomattox.  To  those  eight  thou- 


HOLCOMBE'S  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  505 

sand,  who,  without  hope,  but  without  fear,  proved  faithful  to  the 
last,  as  ready  in  the  agony  of  despair  as  under  the  exhilaration 
of  triumph  to  die  for  liberty,  that  country,  in  her  heart  of  hearts, 
will  ever  render  unspeakable  homage.  Let  us  not  deceive  our 
selves  ;  let  not  our  tender  memories  glide  into  deceitful  hopes ; 
let  us  bow  without  question  or  murmur  to  that  inscrutable 
Providence  which  fills  the  ages  with  its  mighty  work  of  recon 
struction,  and  is  ever  evolving,  from  the  wrecks  of  old  societies, 
the  fairer  forms  of  new  •  and  let  us  labor  frankly  and  loyally  for 
the  stability,  liberty,  and  glory  of*  the  Government  which,  after 
this  great  appeal  of  arms,  we  have  accepted.  Bat  let  us  never 
fail  to  vindicate  our  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  which  our  fathers 
framed,  or,  spurning  the  heathen  sentiment  that  a  cause  is  con 
secrated  by  success,  to  defend  the  fame  of  the  brave  men  who 
upheld  the  principles  of  that  Constitution  with  such  unfaltering 
constancy.  We  do  not  mourn  as  those  who  weep  by  dishonored 
graves ;  for  the  faith,  courage,  and  devotion  to  liberty,  of  our 
Confederate  dead  have,  like  the  beauty  of  Juliet,  made  the  tomb 

itself 

"  A  feasting  presence,  bright  with  light." 

Their  example  is  more  precious  to  us  by  far  than  all  the  ma 
terial  wealth  we  have  sacrificed  in  the  struggle.  The  great  race 
to  which  we  belong  has  often  kindled  its  hope  and  courage  from 
fields  of  disaster,  where  the  brave  have  fallen  in  defense  of  their 
principles  with  no  stain  upon  their  names.  The  fatal  day  at 
Roncesvalles  furnished  to  European  chivalry  its  noblest  battle- 
song.  The  great  fight  at  Hastings  was  begun  by  a  Norman 
minstrel,  who 

"  Chanted,  lustily  and  loud,  the  strain 
Of  Roland  and  of  Charlemagne ; 
And  the  dead  who  deathless  all 
Fell  at  famous  Roncesvalles !  " 

In  many  lands,  O  Freedom  !  lie  thy  everlasting  springs. 
But  upon  no  spot  of  earth — not  on  the  plains  of  Marathon  nor 
in  the  unconquered  Gulf  of  Salamis,  not  at  Bannockburn  or 
Morgarten,  not  at  Bunker  Hill  or  at  Yorktown — hast  thou  un 
sealed  fountains  of  inspiration  purer  or  more  unfailing  than  upon 


506  REMINISCENCES   OF  GENERAL   ROBERT  E.   LEE. 

those  heights  of  Gettysburg,  where  sleep  our  yet  unsepulchred 
dead,  and  those  fields  of  Appomattox,  where  gathered  round 
Lee  the  unterrified  remnant  of  our  living  braves.  Such  lives 
were  too  precious  to  be  thrown  away  in  unavailing  sacrifice, 
and  but  one  melancholy  duty  remained  to  their  leader.  With 
what  agony  that  duty  shook  his  soul,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
exclamation  which  even  his  stern  self-control  could  not  suppress : 
"  I  would  rather  die  a  thousand  deaths !"  Indeed,  the  tempta 
tion  seems  most  powerfully  to  have  assailed  his  heroic  spirit  to 
ride  along  the  lines  to  find  a  soldier's  grave.  "  But,  then,"  as 
he  said  to  Gordon,  "  what  will  become  of  the  women  and  chil 
dren  of  the  South  ?  It  is  our  duty  to  live."  Yes,  by  a  sacrifice 
nobler  than  death,  live  ! — live,  to  pour  into  the  bosoms  of  your 
countrymen  a  reviving  tide  of  hope ;  live,  to  exhibit  to  the 
world  the  glory  of  magnanimous  suffering ;  live,  to  illustrate, 
by  sublime  example,  your  own  immortal  sentiment,  that  "  human 
virtue  should  be  equal  to  human  calamity."  Over  the  mournful 
incidents  of  that  closing  scene,  incidents  which  our  people  will 
never  read  except  through  dimming  tears,  I  drop  the  veil.  But 
none  could  have  been  brought  in  contact  with  him  in  that  dark 
hour  of  the  soul's  crucifixion,  and  have  beheld  the  majesty  with 
which  his  spirit  rose  triumphant  above  the  weakness  of  the  flesh, 
the  steadiness  with  which  his  gaze  was  bent  through  all  the 
spectral  gloom  which  enveloped  the  path  of  duty,  and  the  fixed 
purpose  which  he  manifested  to  follow  it 

"  Through  the  long  gorge  to  the  far  light," 

without  feeling  the  truth  of  the  almost  inspired  lines  of  the  poet, 

that 

Virtue  could  see  to  do  wh.it  Virtue  would, 

By  her  own  radiant  light,  though  sun  and  moon 

Were  in  the  flat  sea  sunk." 

Whither  now,  O  world-renowned  hero !  will  you  direct  your 
footsteps  ?  Will  you  carry  to  foreign  courts  that  sword  which 
in  any  service  can  command  dignity  and  affluence  ?  Will  you 
seek  in  the  excitement  of  a  fresh  career  amid  new  scenes  to  for 
get  the  sorrows  of  the  past,  and  to  fill  other  lands  with  the  fame 
of  illustrious  deeds  ? 


HOLCOMBE'S   ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  5C7 

No ;  you  have  never  lived  for  pleasure,  for  ambition,  or  for 
self;  you  have  no  thought  nor  feeling  which  is  not  turned  to 
your  country.  Come  what  may,  be  it  poverty  and  reproach,  be 
it  confiscation  and  disfranchisement,  be  it  the  dungeon  or  the 
gibbet,  to  the  edge  of  doom  you  will  share  the  fortunes  of  your 
people  !  The  benignant  skies  which  bent  above  your  boyhood 
shall  arch  your  grave  ;  and,  if  no  other  record  attests  your  vir 
tues,  your  enemies  themselves  must  inscribe  upon  your  tomb 
the  Christian  patriot's  most  fitting  epitaph  : 

"  True  to  the  kindred  points  of  heaven  and  home." 

General  Lee,  after  mature  deliberation  as  to  his  future 
course,  accepted  the  presidency  of  Washington  College.  He 
could  have  obtained  a  more  lucrative  position,  but  none  so  con 
genial  to  his  taste,  or  in  which  he  thought  he  could  render  more 
service  to  his  country.  And  in  what  sphere  could  the  highest 
wisdom  and  virtue  be  more  worthily  employed  ?  He  applied 
himself  with  characteristic  energy  to  the  mastery  and  discharge 
of  his  new  duties.  It  was  not  long  before  every  teacher  and 
every  pupil  felt  the  quickening  influence  of  his  presence.  The 
discipline  of  the  college  was  invigorated,  and  made  that  of  a 
Christian  family  ;  its  schools  were  increased,  its  course  of  studies 
enlarged ;  its  facilities  for  instruction  multiplied ;  new  and  ad 
mirable  provisions  introduced  in  its  organization,  designed  to 
avoid  alike  the  mischiefs  of  the  close  curriculum  and  the  abuses 
incident  to  a  purely  elective  system ;  and  a  spirit  of  energy, 
fidelity,  and  liberal  ambition,  infused  into  its  whole  administra 
tion.  Suns  seem  larger  at  their  setting,  and  no  chapter  in 
General  Lee's  life  has  appeared  to  me  grander  than  its  close. 
Cheerfully,  patiently,  laboriously,  with  no  regret  at  being  with 
drawn  from  the  world's  eye,  with  no  ambition  foreign  to  his  work, 
but  with  a  devotion  as  single  as  if  on  this  alone  he  was  to  build 
his  fame,  did  he  dedicate  himself  to  the  youth  of  his  country.  Most 
fortunate  they  who  heard  the  lessons  of  honor,  patriotism,  and 
piety,  from  his  lips  !  May  the  precepts  be  as  fruitful  as  the 
example  is  immortal !  And  may  the  College  of  Washington, 
now  doubly  hallowed  as  the  University  of  Lee,  never  fail  the 
patriotic  hope  and  expectation  which  gave  it  birth,  and  now 


508  REMINISCENCES   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

have  raised  it  to  the  skies,  but  ever  remain  a  generous  nursery 
of  learning  and  virtue,  and  an  increasing  benefaction  to  the 
world  through  the  years  to  come!  But  our  indebtedness  to 
General  Lee  for  his  services  since  the  war  is  not  to  be  measured 
by  the  extent  of  his  influence  as  the  President  of  Washington 
College.  The  cheerfulness  with  which  he  endured  the  priva 
tions,  and  the  silent  dignity  with  which  he  submitted  to  the 
mortifications  of  adverse  fortune,  the  resolution  with  which  he  laid 
aside  the  depressing  memories  of  the  past,  and  the  energy  with 
which  he  applied  himself  to  the  duties  of  the  present  hour,  were 
of  inappreciable  value  in  reviving  the  almost  extinguished  spirit 
of  the  country.  The  rapidity  with  which  France  recovered  from 
the  desolating  civil  wars  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  ascribed, 
by  Burke,  to  the  fact  that  a  noble  pride  and  a  generous  ambi 
tion  still  survived  in  the  people.  In  the  fellowship  and  com 
munion  of  Lee's  great  example  we  have  learned  to  feel  that 
misfortune  involves  no  loss  of  self-respect,  that  men  cannot  be 
dishonored  unless  they  dishonor  themselves,  that  no  conqueror 
can  impose  fetters  upon  the  soul,  and  that,  cherishing  every 
lofty  aspiration,  practising  every  manly  faculty,  and  grasping 
every  opening  opportunity,  we  should  shield  ourselves  with 
hope,  bear  nobly  whatever  Providence  may  ordain,  and  drink 
strength  from  the  cup  of  calamity  itself.  The  poet,  moralizing 
upon  the  fall  of  other  republics,  and  the  brevity  of  the  period  in 
which  a  state  may  be  destroyed  as  compared  with  that  in  which 
it  can  be  formed,  asks  the  question,  as  if  it  admitted  of  no  reply, 

"  Can  man  its  shattered  splendor  renovate, 
Kecall  its  glories  back,  and  vanquish  time  and  fate  ?  " 

Prussia  after  Jena,  France  after  the  triumphant  invasion  of 
1813,  and  Sardinia  after  the  Revolution  of  1848,  have  shown  us 
that  nations  may  find  in  the  very  depths  of  their  fall  the  ele 
ments  of  their  recovery.  It  is  more  through  the  influence  of 
General  Lee  than  of  any  other  human  agency  that  we  expect  to 
furnish  another  example  of  a  community  rising  the  stronger 
from  those  storms  of  fate  which  laid  it  prostrate  for  a  time.  In 
that  dawn  of  hope  which  breaks  around  us,  we  hail  the  approach 
ing  day.  This  old  Commonwealth,  which,  after  filling  the  hori- 


HOLCOMBE'S  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS.  509 

zon  of  history  so  long  with  its  meshes  of  golden  light,  had  sunk 
into  the  womb  of  darkness,  shall 

"...  anon  repair  its  drooping  head 
And  trick  its  beams,  and  with  new-spangled  ore 
Flame  in  the  forehead  of  the  morning  sky." 

But  a  mighty  sorrow  was  wearing  away  the  springs  of  life. 
Grief  over  the  lost  cause,  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of  his 
old  soldiers  and  their  families,  solicitude  for  the  future  of  our 
people,  were  fast  breaking  down  a  constitution  wThich  Nature 
and  temperate  habits  had  destined  for  robust  old  age.  Kossuth, 
on  visiting  the  tomb  of  Washington,  is  said  to  have  burst  into 
tears.  "  He  saved  his  country,"  exclaimed  the  Hungarian  patriot ; 
"  I  could  not  save  mine  !  "  A  similar  anguish  brought  Lee  to  the 
grave.  For  nearly  two  years  premonitions  of  declining  health 
had  saddened  our  hearts,  but  no  warning  could  prepare  us  for 
the  shock  of  his  death.  When  the  tidings  flashed  along  the 
wires  that  Lee  too  had  crossed  over  the  river,  and  was  resting 
with  Jackson  under  the  shade  of  the  trees,  there  went  up  from 
earth  the  wailing  voice  of  millions,  who  mourned  the  loss  of  fa 
ther,  friend,  examplar,  guide.  But,  upon  the  ear  of  Christian 
faith,  there  broke  another  strain,  the  jubilant  anthem  of  ever 
lasting  peace,  in  sounding  welcome  from  choral  seraphim: 
"  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  .  .  .  they  rest 
from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 


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